Bulldogs win Crosstown Cup, 1-0 over Eagles

It's early in the season but Rick Carrigan likes his team. Folsom High's varsity girls' soccer team is 3-1 on the season with the team coming away with a 1-0 victory over Vista del Lago on Saturday in the annual Crosstown Cup. The goal came on a penalty kick with Folsom senior midfielder Madi Stroh taking and scoring the shot. Stroh is one of the Folsom's five captains on the team. "Madi is a three-year varsity player who can play anywhere in the midfield or in the back," Carrigan said. "She's a leader by example type of kid. She doesn't say a lot so when she does it means a lot. She's very steady and I expect a solid performance from her every game." The Crosstown Cup was a defensive battle, not just because only one goal was scored, but there were not a lot of scoring opportunities. Folsom had the better of the play and had more chances to score thanks predominately to the play of the players up top: Kirsten Darke, Zayla Lintag, MaKena Carey and Kiana Arbis. Darke played most of the time in goal last year, but with a pair of healthy goalies, she will play up top this season. She and center-mid Arbis were Folsom's most dangerous players on Saturday followed closely by Carey and freshman Sofia Yasutake. All these girls had scoring chances of some type, but nothing came to fruition. Vista, by count of head coach Kennedy Chongo, only had one good scoring chance all night. "The most disappointing thing was we didn't and couldn't create any chances and that's a problem," Chongo said. "You can't just defend and win games. We finally settled down after we gave up a goal and it shouldn't take us getting scored on to start playing. "The offense is still in the working; our leadership is still in the making, and so we want to look at how we can get everyone excited enough to play together and complement each other on the field. There are some personalities that are not fully functionally clicking just yet. "You can say, yeah, we lost on a PK, but when you look at the way we're playing, at some moments we're looking like we're trying to survive because we are making so many unforced errors. Folsom had the players to punish us, and they could have scored a couple more goals or could have at least had taken a few better shots." Midfielder Sarah Fonseca, a junior, also played well for the Bulldogs. She's another team captain. "This is Sarah's third year on varsity," Carrigan. "She's a pretty creative, dynamic kid with the ability to beat people with the dribble or the pass." Folsom obviously did a good job defensively, keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard. Goalie Maya Moss played the first 75 minutes of the game, while Sierra Ruehl played the last 15 minutes. "Maya is our fifth team captain," Carrigan said. "She seems committed and excited to play and is taking on the responsibility as a leader. She's a solid keeper, experienced and good with her feet. She's also a vocal leader." The team also has two defenders who are captains: Sarah Agnew and Juliana Sardo. "Sarah is a three-year varsity player," Carrigan said. "She's committed to playing at a small school in St. Louis. She's really tenacious defender who can get up and down the line and she's not afraid to get involved into the attack. "Juliana is a junior in her second year on varsity. She's a smart defender who is a good, strong tackler. She also leads us with two goals scored this season." Carrigan also has three freshmen that he's high on and all three have a goal already this season: Yasutake, Lintag and Hailey McCann. Carrigan is excited for the season. "We've got a smaller roster than in past years but we've got more depth," Carrigan said. "We've got 10 juniors who have a lot of experience. When we go to the bench there is not a big drop off. I think we've got a solid group and hopefully we'll have better results in the super tough Sierra Foothill League." The Eagles have played a few more games than the Bulldogs, as they are 3-4 on the season. The team's three captains are all defenders: Maddison Brossart, Anna Olson and Kelsey Fisher. "Maddison is one of our center backs and she's very vocal and natural leader," Chongo said. "She mobilizes the team's defense and she sets an example for everyone to follow. "Anna is another natural leader who is mature. She goes out of her way to make connections to the younger players and makes them feel welcomed. She's playing outside back this year, but she can also play center back. "Kelsey is a quiet leader who leads by example. She's a very consistent and mature athlete and she's very serious about what needs to get done. I'm excited for her that she recognizes that she's a leader." There are three newcomers to the team that Chongo is also very high on. One, Megan Gover, played as a sophomore, but did not play as a junior. She's back for her senior year. "Megan is an impact player who plays defense for us, but she can also play in the midfield or at forward," Chongo said. "She's a good passer and she also has a very strong shot on goal. She will do a good job in keeping the defense organized." Two newcomers to the team include freshman goalie Molly McBride and freshman midfielder Aubree Dunn. "Molly has the ability to play confidently with her feet to distribute the ball," Chongo said. "She's also very brave. She's got amazing timing when to come off her line. She will have an impact. "Aubree plays defender on her club team, but we already had seven defenders so it would be difficult for any defender to make our team, but we couldn't deny Aubree," Chongo continued. "She's a competitor and there is no quit in her. She understands how to play soccer. She can also play midfield, so that's where we have her, as we're missing Emily Harris, who's another impact player." Junior Skylar Raneses, and sophomores Makenna Gradek and Hannah DaSilva all had good seasons last year and are back and figure to be involved in a lot of goals for the Eagles. "We're still working on coming together and playing together," Chongo said. "Defense, we don't have much to worry about in terms of positioning. Offensively, we have players who can make things happen, but we want to mesh to be able to create good scoring chances and not just rely on one-on-one play." The Eagles won a section championship in 2022, and made it all the way back to the final last year but lost to league rival Christian Brothers. They would love to make it back to that game and win it this year. "Last year we had a young team and we didn't expect much, but we ended up making the championship game," Chongo said. "We still have enough talent to win the section. To go back this year, with the growth we had last year, we should make it to that game and win it and that's our goal this year." JV Crosstown Cup Vista 2, Folsom 1 Megan Fisher scored both goals for the Eagles, scoring the game winner with four minutes to play. Amanda Nazworth was the winning keeper for the Eagles. "Everyone played with determination," Vista coach Alex Gonzalez said. "Everyone worked to win the game; they know what they wanted to do and they did it. The team was very determined to win and they did a good job staying composed." Tia Nolen scored Folsom's goal. "I thought we played awesome," Folsom coach Kate McClaskey said. "I felt we had them most of the game, but sometimes the games don't finish like you want them to. It was so close." Freshman Crosstown Cup Folsom 2, Vista 1 Soleil Burke opened the scoring for the Bulldogs and Brynne Karford netted the game-winning goal with about four minutes to play, while Cassandra O'Flaherty played steady in goal for the Bulldogs. Vista more than held its own, as the Eagles played the entire game with only 10 players. CJ Clive scored the Eagles' only goal. "The girls played great and I was very proud of them," Vista coach Casey Schulken said. Added Folsom coach Paul Danzi, "We played hard and that's all I can ask of them. Credit to Vista, they played a great game with only 10 players."