Feelings of optimism and high hopes were on the faces of the Lynbrook girls soccer team as the Lady Vikes captured their season opener with a 10-0 shutout of the visiting Yerba Buena Warriors Monday afternoon.
The Vikings, who have undergone a major facelift with new head coach Mitch Basin taking over, as well as a new playing field. The Vikings are looking to improve their 8-9-1 overall record from last season and playing hard to qualify for the CCS playoffs for the first time in several years. With one victory under their belts, the Lady Vikes have taken their first step in achieving these goals.
With nine out of the 10 goals scored by different members of the squad, the Vikings have demonstrated their ability to utilize multiple players on offensive strikes as opposed to relying on one or two key players to score. Junior striker Kat Tatley believes that the team’s flexible scoring reflects a higher sense of teamwork amongst the players.
“I believe that [the versatile scoring] finally is able to convey the feelings that we're all found within this team,” says Tatley. “This year's varsity team is one of the best I've played on and the connection that each of these girls feels this year is truly amazing.”
Senior midfielder Dana Rothwein adds, “We're all really proud of everyone who scored, especially those who usually aren't able to in their normal positions. It will definitely give us a positive outlook on the rest of the games this week as well as the season to come.”
Within the first few minutes of the game, the Vikings pushed through the Warriors defense and scored as junior Marnie Chang connected with Tatley to initiate the attack. Lynbrook continued to score against Yerba Buena with beautiful drives from midfield along with great teamwork, as evidenced by the numerous assists by the Vikings. With their strong offense, the Vikings were ahead 6-0 by the end of the first half.
At the start of the second half, Basin decided to shift the defenders to the striker position and vice versa in an attempt to keep the score down. However, that didn’t prevent Lynbrook from keeping the ball on the Warriors side of the field. With constant pressure from Lynbrook’s offense, the Warriors gave up another four goals, including a header by usual goalkeeper Kirsten Chai.
“Honestly it feels amazing to start off this season with a 10-0 win,” said Tatley.
With a momentous win to kick off their season, the Lady Vikings are feeling positive about how far they can go as a team. With a great sense of teamwork, as evidenced by the widespread team-scoring, the Vikings plan to utilize the entire depth of their team.
“The teamwork looks very good for this early in season,” said senior midfielder Theresa Moffet who has a personal goal of connecting better with the players on and off the field. “The dynamics of the team have been really positive and the players are hard working and seem to get along well.”
In addition to the players themselves, the coaching staff, headed by Basin, has also been helping the the team along their young season.
“Our coach is always very confident in us so I think that put us in a mindset that made us expect to win," said Moffet.
For Basin, simplicity and adaptability is what’s on his mind.
“This is a new system for them and a new team for me and so we’re just going to run a simple system that they can adapt and implement very easily,” he said. “It was a great team effort all around from top to bottom, from back to front. If I had to give the game ball to anybody, it would be to the whole team.”
Though it may be too early to predict the season right now, the Lady Vikes are certainly off to a great start.
“As far as we can tell, this season is off to a good start," Moffet said. "It's only been one game, but our team is starting to play together well."
