U12 girls squad wins two in Chevrolet Association Cup
GILROY – Th Orchard Valley Tornadoes U12 soccer team finished up their productive season with an impressive 2-1 record in the Girls Chevrolet Association Cup.
The Tornadoes continued their habit of starting strong in a tournament with a 2-0 shutout of the Fire. Amanda Austin opened the scoring by drilling a nice cross from Lexi MacPhail. JC Clayton got the insurance goal with a booming, long shot that skipped off the wet grass and ate up the Fire goalie. Goalie Nichole Downing notched another shutout with a solid effort from the Tornadoes defense.
The Tornadoes did it without two key players, Cloey LemMon and Mary Thatcher, who were both sidelined with broken arms. The Tornadoes picked up Austin and Kelly Hoose to fill the vacant roster spots. Defenders Stephanie Wan, Lindsay Pund, and Clarissa Hammer stepped up to fill the void, along with midfielders Amanda Whitling, Alex Seda, and Bella Comin. Sarah Block, Amanda Kline, and Taylor Johnson split time between the forward slots and the defender spots.
A very tough Rocklin squad squashed the hopes the Tornadoes had of advancing to the next round of cup play in Sacramento with a 2-0 final result. The Tornadoes played strong, but gave up two goals in a short span after the start of the second half, and could not recover.
The Tornadoes closed out the tournament and their season with another shutouttopping the Mill Valley Strikers, 3-0. While Downing and Whitling split the goalie duties, the Tornadoes scored first on a play initiated by one of Kline’s signature long throw-ins. Johnson controlled the ball and sent it ahead to MacPhail, who beat the Strikers goalie.
The Tornadoes’ second goal was one of the prettiest of the season, with Clayton providing the trigger on a corner kick. The initial kick was blocked by a defender, but Clayton stayed with the play and ripped a beautiful crossing pass when the defender could not control the ball. Whitling was in position in front of the goal, and knocked the ball in with a picture-perfect header. MacPhail scored again to close the books on the season, following up her own shot that had been blocked.
