While most local teenagers were enjoying holiday break, the Los Altos and Mountain View High girls soccer teams kicked off their respective Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL) season on the pitch last Friday, Jan. 3, with the Eagles emerging victorious 1-0 in a close battle between rival teams.
Sophomore midfielder Brooke Neschleba notched the lone point in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper after a fortuitous flick by senior forward Annie Luk. The Eagles defense held the Spartans scoreless for the remaining 15 minutes of the first half and then the entirety of the second half.
Much of the play action was in the Mountain View half as the Eagles kept attacking, but several through balls and breakaways came up with near misses. There was some tough contact, including one collision between a Los Altos forward and Mountain View’s starting goalkeeper in the second half that led to nearly 10 minutes of stoppage time as both girls came out of the game to assess their injuries.
Last year, the Eagles won SCVAL, with Mountain View as runner-up, but both teams lost a significant number of seniors from those squads and are rebuilding this year. The second game between the two teams will bookend the season, as they will play their final league game Feb. 19. Mountain View is 5-3 this season and plays Palo Alto today at 6 p.m. Los Altos travels to Homestead today at 3:30 p.m.
