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Warriors edge Vikings in final 15

Becky Regan
bregan@tahoedailytribune.com
Whittell’s Sabrina Trachsel and South Tahoe’s Beth Jaggard battle for the ball in midfield during a non-league soccer game at Whittell Thursday.
Becky Regan / Tahoe Daily Tribune |

ZEPHYR COVE, nev. — The win doesn’t mean much on paper. It isn’t a league game and it won’t affect playoff chances, but for the Warriors this one was a big deal.

The Whittell girls soccer team exploded in celebration when the three whistles finally cemented their 2-1 win. No one seemed to know exactly how long it’s been since Whittell has beaten South Tahoe on the soccer pitch, but safe to say it’s been awhile.

“South Tahoe is a really great team, and to beat them 2-1 is a real feather in our cap,” said Whittell coach Patrick Kelly. “The girls played really hard, and I couldn’t ask for more.”



When these two teams met earlier this month the results was a 1-1 soccer battle that begged for a rematch.

Thursday started in similar fashion. The girls carried a 1-1 tie into the final 15 minutes when Kenya Maltase won a midfield battle.



Whittell goalkeeper Brittany Boulet sent a deep drop-kick to the midfield where Maltase was waiting. The sophomore leaped up and redirected the ball toward South Tahoe’s goal with a sharp header.

As the ball rocketed toward South Tahoe’s waiting and ready goalkeeper, Alejandra Orozco, Whittell’s Alison Copsy suddenly broke free. Copsy flew down the field to meet the ball at the Vikings’ goal. The speedy freshman followed it into net for the win.

“We just weren’t generating enough chances,” said South Tahoe coach Jeremy Evans. “When you do that you put a lot of pressure on your back line to jump every ball, and Whittell was just good enough, they wanted it just enough, to win a ball in the midfield and send it long.”

South Tahoe’s Jensen Smith almost tied the game up minutes later with one of her heat-seeking indirect kicks from 40 yards out, but the shot sailed just a bit high, and Whittell hung on through the final 10 minutes.

“It hurt not having Jordyn Dion here, of course, but there’s plenty of quality on our team to get it done,” Evans said. “They just wanted it a little bit more than us.”

Whittell improves to 13-1-1 overall, and South Tahoe is now 8-3-3 overall.

UP NEXT: South Tahoe will host Lowry at 1 p.m. Saturday. Whittell will host Battle Mountain at 10 a.m. Saturday.


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