Marysville soccer blows by Faith

A sloppy, rain-soaked pitch, overcast skies and cold weather didn't seem to slow down the Marysville High girls soccer team on Thursday.

And neither did Faith Christian.

Playing in their final tune-up before starting Golden Empire League play next week, the Indians kept the fast-striking Lions' offense in check and received two goals and an assist from sophomore forward Marimar Terriquez to earn a 4-1 victory at Marks Field in Marysville.

It was a solid all-around effort by the Indians, who outshot Faith Christian nearly 5 to 1 during the match while upping their mark to 2-3 on the season.

"We're making a lot of progress," Marysville coach Chris Osborne said. "We want to have a possession mindset for 80 minutes and we're getting there."

The Indians controlled the ball from the start and, after five near misses early, finally struck for a goal when Alyssa Villa received a pass from Makayla Synak and found the back of the net in the game's 8th minute.

It was a terrific shot by Villa, who was dribbling to the far right of the net before driving the ball into the upper left corner on an extremely tough angle.

Marysville added to its lead in the 38th minute when Nallely Ferreira delivered a perfect cross to Terriquez, who punched it in to give the Indians a 2-0 lead at the half.

The score could've been much worse with the Indians outshooting the Lions 16-4 over the first 40 minutes. Only Joo Lee's 14 saves in goal and a strong defensive effort by Morgan Trimble on the backline kept the match close.

"We had a lot of jitters today, but I saw some things we need to work on," said Faith Christian coach Robert Ripley, whose club was playing its season opener. "(Osborne) told me that he was worried about our speed before the game, but they played well defensively."

Terriquez found Yesenia Godines for a goal 7 minutes into the second half to make the score 3-0, but the Lions answered when Lacy Bicknell scored on a corner kick off the foot of Sarah Hall just a minute later.

The corner kick was one of only two the Lions took in the match.

Terriquez put the finishing touches on the win with her second goal in the 56th minute, but still, there were many more scoring chances the Indians left on the table.

"We've got to have that taste for blood and a nose for finishing," Osborne said. "We did well, but you've got to score when you have chances and we don't have that finishing feel yet."

Osborne praised the defensive effort of Paola Sotelo and Alma Guerra, who kept Hall from getting easy touches, no small task considering Hall is coming off a 40-goal season a year ago.

"Our backline is fast and solid enough that we kept her contained," Osborne said. "We kept her in front of us and that was our gameplan."

The loss was a tough one to open the season, but Ripley saw the light at the end of the tunnel and said his team should benefit from playing schools of larger sizes.

"We don't play another small school for another two weeks," he said. "It will make a big difference. They get to see how well teams pass the ball."