The Lady Dons got back on the winning track by trouncing Castro Valley by a final score of 4-1 on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Amador. The Lady Dons dominated possession throughout the game and could have scored more than their 4 goals if a few breaks had gone their way. The defense was stout again and should have been credited with a shutout as the only Castro Valley goal was scored AFTER the clock had run to 0:00 at the end of the game . Really need to get that scoreboard horn FIXED.

Amador was on the offensive attack from the opening whistle and it paid off early as Amador scored their first goal within the first three minutes of the game as Shanece Hunsaker took a Sam Frost pass. Hunsaker calmly took the pass and threaded it past the Castro Valley keeper. On the defensive side, the entire back line of Julia Gonsman, Emily Mickelson, Kiera Greenan and Hanna Lindel kept the opposition at bay. Keeper Juliet Allen was called upon to punch out several Castro Valley corner kicks and free kicks to keep them scoreless. The offense had several chances throughout the first half as Molly Murphy, Katie Judson, Sammy Lai and Lorna Roberts tried a variety of combinations to get that second goal. Persistence finally paid off with less than 3 minutes left in the half as Amador scored its second goal – coming from Sydney DeVor as she received a great feed from Murphy and again beat the Castro Valley keeper. Amador went to the half up 2 – 0.

The second half started with more pressure from the Lady Dons on the offensive end. Super-sub Alyssa Bardakos made it a 3 – 0 game when she positioned herself perfectly in front of the goal and blasted in a cross from Sam Frost. Finally, DeVor would score her second goal of the game on a great assist from Abbie Fried late in the second half.

While the offense will get lots of credit for the 4 goal bonanza, the defense stepped up all game to keep Castro Valley in check. A true team effort by everyone.

The Dons play again on Tuesday against Granada at home at 6 pm. See you there!

The Amador Valley Lady Dons extended their consecutive game shutout streak to 5 games with a pair of 0 – 0 draws against Cal and San Ramon Valley. The impressive accomplishment was delivered by the entire team from the goalkeeper and through the forward line. This recent streak of shutouts has lowered the Dons goals against average to just under 1 goal allowed per game.

On the offensive side, there is a tremendous amount of effort being exerted to break through for a goal. It is an indication of just how tough the EBAL competition can be when there are scoreless draws. Lot’s of great hustle and intensity on the entire squad’s part and eventually they will break through.

Up next for the Lady Dons is the EBAL leading Livermore at home on Thursday night, January 16 starting at 6 pm.

Good luck girls and we’ll be watching!

The Amador Valley Lady Dons beat Dougherty Valley by a score of 3 – 0 to extend their winning streak to three games and four of the last five games. The victory takes the team record to 6 wins against 4 losses. The game was the second of the week after the victory against Alameda on Monday night.

Most of the focus in recent articles has been on the offensive performance of the team as they’ve scored 10 goals in the past three games. However, a more impressive statistic is the zero goals against through that same stretch. Against Foothill, Alameda and Dougherty Valley, the Amador defense has not allowed a single goal while facing a barrage of attempts by the opposition. Coach Gray has consistently been using a three defender back line who has teamed up with the keeper to bend but not break during this stretch. Leading the defensive stand has been a group of girls including Keara Greenan, Julia Gonsman, Hannah Landal, Hanna Fleshman, Jenyce Dutcher and Juliet Allen. The entire group has played as a cohesive unit over the past five games to drive the recent success. Of particular note were the 9 stops by keeper Allen against Dougherty to bring her total saves over the past three games to 25.

During the Dougherty Valley game, the midfield ball control was noticeably improved with very strong performances by Molly Murphy, Katie Judson, Emily Mickelson, Lorna Roberts, Kylie Racer and Allie Hunter. Passes were connected and ball movement from the back line through to the front line was working well. Especially active and impactful in this game was Molly Murphy who was “all over the field” to influence the game.

In the end, you can’t win without scoring so kudos to the front line of Sam Frost, Abbie Fried, Sydney DeVor, Alyssa Bardokos and Sammy Lai and the entire midfield who again were creative to score three goals. Held scoreless through the first half, the team applied extraordinary pressure on the Dougherty back line and finally took the lead in the 52nd minute. On a pass from Sam Frost at the top of the 18, Molly Murphy slipped the ball past the diving Dougherty Valley goalkeeper. Euphoria ensued from the crowd and no more than two minutes later, Amador Valley doubled their lead when Abbie Fried was able to beat her defender and take the ball into the corner of the 18 and unleash a low cross which was slotted past the Dougherty Valley keeper. While the defense was keeping the Dougherty girls at bay, Amador was scheming the “put the game away” goal which was impressively scored by Sydney DeVor who dribbled between and around Dougherty players to the top of the 18 and struck the ball past the goalkeeper.

That’s it folks! Amador wins by a score of 3 – 0 and now faces Cal High on Thursday, January 19 at 6 pm at home. Let’s keep the home advantage working and win another one.

Great job AV Lady Dons!

The Amador Valley Girls Varsity soccer dominated the Alameda Hornets in a non-league game on Monday night winning by a final score of 7 – 0. A well balanced offensive and defensive performance was delivered by the entire team. Senior Sam Frost led the scoring barrage with three goals – all in the first half. Sammy Lai added two of her own with Alyssa Bardakos and Lorna Roberts chipping in one each. Likely inspired by the offense, the midfield and defense were incredibly solid and kept the Hornets offense off balance the entire night.

In the first half, Frost scored the first three goals of the game to put the Dons up early and for good. Abbie Fried created lots of opportunities early in the contest and assisted on two of Frost’s three goals. The combination of Lorna Roberts, Alyssa Bardakos, Shanece Hunsaker, Emily Mickelson, Molly Murphy, Katie Judson, Sydney DeVor and Kylie Racer were relentless throughout the half and added to the lead. The fourth goal of the game was scored by Sammy Lai on an assist from Racer and the fifth, all before half, was scored on a great shot by Alyssa Bardakos. While the offense was busy, the defense was equally dominant with Julia Gonsman, Hanna Fleshman, Keara Greenan, Allie Hunter, Jenyce Dutcher and Delaney Bammer working together to stymie any Alameda runs.

Being up by 5 goals heading into the second half triggered a slightly different strategy which was characterized by calm ball possession and coordinated offensive runs that started from deep in the midfield. There were numerous possessions of 10 – 12 successive passes through the midfield and back line and in some cases all the way back to keeper Juliet Allen. The sixth goal of the game was scored by Lorna Roberts on a Shanece Hunsaker cross and the seventh and final goal scored by Sammy Lai on a Molly Murphy cross.

The game was immensely fun to watch for the fans and I am sure fun for the players to play. The Dons return to league action tonight, Tuesday, January 17 when they face Dougherty Valley at home at 6:00 pm.

The Amador Valley Lady Dons are on a roll after winning two of their last three games against some tough competition. On Thursday, January 5, the Dons beat an overwhelmed Dublin team by a score of 3-0. On Thursday, January 12, they took one on the chin with a 2-0 loss to a very strong Monte Vista team. And then, in the most exciting game so far in the season, the girls beat cross-town rivals, Foothill by a score of 1-0. This brings the Amador record to an even 4 wins and 4 losses.

In the first contest against Dublin, Amador had the run of play in the first half with very little pressure from the Dublin squad. Despite several good opportunities, the Dons were unable to score a goal in the first half while maintaining a good defensive position. The Dons turned up the pressure at the start of the second half striving to score the critical first goal – and in the 50th minute, it happened. Amador earned a corner kick which was served into the box by Sam Frost. Abbie Fried was able to track it down and get her head onto it and past the Dublin goalkeeper. Only 5 minutes later, Amador’s Lorna Roberts took a crossing pass from Fried (who had received a pass from Shenyce Hunsaker) and booted it in for the second goal of the game. The Amador defense continued to hold Dublin at bay. Credit to the entire Amador back line for keeping some speedy Dublin forwards from getting the ball on frame – especially Julie Gonsman who chased down some close Dublin breakaways down the side. Finally, Amador put the game away as Sydney Devor scored her first goal of the season late in the game – again from an Abbie Fried cross. Final score AV 3, Dublin 0.

As much as Amador dominated Dublin in that game, Monte Vista controlled the run of play second of the three games. The Amador defense was under constant pressure with Monte Vista seemingly having 75% or more possession. The Amador defense bent but didn’t break through the entire first half despite some very legitimate opportunities by the Mustangs requiring keeper Juliet Allen to make some brave saves on crossed balls and breakaways. With as much possession as Monte Vista was having, the Dons did show some spark on offense with Sam Frost, Alyssa Bardakos, Shenyce Hunsaker and Abbie Fried getting off some shots only to be thwarted by the Mustang defense. In the second half, the immense pressure broke the Don’s defense with Monte Vista throwing lots of players at goal. Monte Vista scored on a header early in the second half and added a second late in the game. A tough loss but the girls represented well against a very good foe. Final score AV 0, Monte Vista 2.

In the highlight of the three game set, the Lady Dons traveled to Foothill for their battle against their rival. On a sunny Saturday, the Dons and Falcons faced off! This is the 7th match that I’ve attended between these two teams and it always is exciting given that so many of the girls are friends and club teammates. If you were to look purely at possession and shot stats, you would be wrong to guess the final outcome as the Falcons had the majority of possession and outshot the Dons by 14-4 margin. Foothill, led by their speedy trio of forwards, were matched up against the Don’s three player back line. The Foothill offense did not disappoint with numerous runs at the Don’s defense calling upon Hanna Fleshman, Julia Gonsman, Kira Greenan and especially Juliet Allen to have to come up BIG on many occasions. Throughout the first half, the Falcons would make runs, cross balls and get through the back line with the defense and Allen making stop after stop – on sliding blocks, diving punches or leaping catches. It was amusing seeing the Foothill parents getting more and more frustrated! In the second half, the Amador offense had some chances of their own but the Foothill defense held strong. But, the tale of the game continued with Foothill pounding the offensive end making our defense step up. In one 5 minute stretch midway through the second half, there were 3 shots directly on goal but all stopped. With Foothill getting a bit desperate and frustrated, the Don’s seized their opportunity with only two minutes left in the game. A punt by Allen was collected by midfielder Lorna Roberts who slipped the ball to a breaking Shanyce Hunsaker who went straight at goal. With only one defender to beat, she deftly diagonally crossed the ball to a streaking Abbie Fried who beat the Foothill keeper for the only (and winning) goal of the game with only 1:52 left on the clock. To Foothill’s credit, they threw everything they had remaining at the Dons and earned a dangerously close free kick with less than a minute remaining. The free kick from outside the 35 yard line was well placed on goal, but Allen was able to punch it up, out and and into the crossbar and then collect it in a scrum of girls. The exciting and crazy game ended with an Amador victory 1-0. A great afternoon!

The Dons have three games this week with their first on Monday night against Alameda at home. Good job girls and keep up the good work.