Whitney girls blank Placer for second straight win

Sometimes in sports, the best offense is a strong defense. That was the case Wednesday night as the Whitney High School girls soccer team topped Placer 2-0 for a second consecutive victory. The Wildcats controlled possession for most of the first half, keeping the Hillgals on their heels and threatening with several shots that were off the mark. Finally, in the 38th minute, Wildcat captain Emily Farley found the back of the net with a penalty kick to put the home squad on top. "Credit to the Placer keeper, she was good," Whitney coach Ana Jones said. "For some reason, we have been sailing our shots these last few games. We just either hit the crossbar or go wide. We have to work on that because we have good finishers." Placer had chances to equalize in the second half, especially in the final 15 minutes, but it was Whitney that delivered the dramatic final goal as Kylie Whipple scored on a counter attack on the final play of the match. Placer keeper Ashlyn Doremus made her mark with 16 saves in the match, many of which left both teams wondering how the ball didn't go in. Doremus entered the match on a hot streak with two consecutive shutouts and feels she is still on that streak, noting she didn't feel discouraged with the result. "My first game of the year was rough and so coming off a game like that and doing something like this is a confidence boost," Doremus said. "When I'm confident, it helps my team's confidence a little bit because I'm yelling, they're moving. I play with a lot of adrenaline, and I just see the ball really well." "She is the reason why we had a chance to tie it with a goal," Placer coach Nicole Cotten said of Doremus. "It's tremendous for us going forward to have that trust and just to know that we're going to have a shot as long as she's in net." Cotten also noted that while it was a loss, it is the type of match Placer can build momentum from by playing a bigger and stronger opponent to the wire. "I'm super proud of them. The fact that we kept them at bay is amazing, and I can't say enough about the defense," Cotten said. "They're our backbone along with our goalkeeper, and to stay strong like that, especially when we were constantly getting bombarded, it was impressive." Whitney (2-0-5) will travel south to put its unbeaten record on the line Saturday against San Luis Obispo in a non-league match. Placer (2-2-1) will have a week off before seeing its second consecutive Sierra Foothill League foe - Del Oro - on Wednesday, Dec. 14, in Loomis.