Despite scoring three goals in the second half to make up for a one-goal deficit in the first half, the visiting Fremont Firebirds settled for a 3-3 draw with the Leland Chargers Tuesday afternoon. The Firebirds are now 3-1-1, and the Chargers 0-1-1 in non-league play.
Fremont aggressively dominated the second half of the game by unleashing some speedy footwork by freshman Jessica Yu. Yu opened the second half with a breakaway down the right side of the field and a long shot into the left corner. Yu added a second goal to make it 2-1 with a short tap into the left of the goal, just edging past the goalie's hands.
However, Leland answered with a long cross from the left side by Celeste Kaashoek that soared past the goalkeeper into the top right corner, tying up the score once more to 2-2.
Yu punched in another long ball from the left wing that made contact with the bottom right of the goal. However, Leland's Courtney Chang finally ended the game in a 3-3 tie with a lob shot over the goalkeeper.
The first half of the game was mostly quiet, with the exception of a single goal for Leland by Kaashoek that would remain unanswered until the second half.
“Really you just see my goalie just pressurized a little bit because our defense is so strong that nothing comes through,” Leland coach Ary Afsari said.
While Leland had a very clean and swift passing game, most notably within their defense, including Alyssa Johnson, Noel Simms, and Emma Sydir, they were unable to make contact with the ball when crossing from the wing to the middle to punch in more goals. However, Fremont lacked the precision Leland had for passing and instead relied on the strength of their offense, most noticeably Yu, whom scored all three of Fremont's goals, as well as sophomore Taylor Sanchez who had impressive footwork and several attempts on goal.
Leland will be facing off at Live Oak January 2 to open BVAL-Mount Hamilton play. Fremont takes on Homestead Thursday in the final match before league play begins.
