Inside the VALT: December 8-14

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Colin Beazley, Staff Writer

This week was slightly less frantic than last, without any tournaments to cover. However, both the Boys and Girls Soccer teams continued league play, both picking up their first league wins of the season. On a slightly separate note, this is the first “Inside the VALT” without covering the Cross Country team. It feels like the end of an era!

Girls Soccer

            The Girls Soccer team played twice last week, fully getting into the swing of league play. On Tuesday, the team played against Paraclete, beating them handily, 3-0. The seniors led the team to their first league win of the season, as KaiLan Mackey (’20) scored a brace, and Sarah Konopaske (’20) added a third to secure the win. Goalkeeper Kayla Davis (’21) kept a clean sheet. On Thursday, Sierra Canyon traveled to Viewpoint to play our team, in a game between two perennial contenders. However, the game did not end in our favor, ending 1-0 to Sierra Canyon. The game was a battle, back and forth, and very competitive between the two teams, but the team was unable to break through a tough Sierra Canyon defense. The Patriots enter Winter Break with a perfectly balanced record of three wins, three ties, and three losses. Their next game is at Campbell Hall, on Tuesday, January 7th.

Boys Soccer

            The Boys Soccer team also played twice last week, travelling to Paraclete and Sierra Canyon in league play. On Tuesday, we struggled to put pressure on the Paraclete defense. However, after halftime, RL Spivak (’20) scored the opener, and we were cruising to a 1-0 win before Paraclete scored an absolute fluke of a goal. After chaos at the very end, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. On Thursday, we emerged energized, scoring in the first two minutes, twice more in the next fifteen, and cruising to a 4-0 win. RL added his sixth goal of the season, and Eric Gunnarsson scored two more in the first half against a hapless Sierra Canyon side. Junior Vasco Singh scored the final goal in the second half to clinch the victory. We don’t play until after winter break, but we play our next six games at home, starting January 7th at 2:00 on Ring, so come out and support our team!

Girls Basketball

            The Girls Basketball team played at St Genevieve’s on Thursday, winning 39-34 in a defensive slugfest. Freshman Karlee White was the leading scorer, and senior captain Katie Topacio hit a three in the fourth quarter to put the Patriots ahead for the rest of the game. However, offense was hard to come by, and the combined defensive effort was crucial for the team’s win. The Patriots play in a tournament after Christmas, and in another tournament at Cleveland High School once school starts up again. Good luck and go Pats!

Boys Basketball

            The Varsity Basketball team was not in action last week, taking a break after the Milken Tournament in preparations for two tournaments over the break. However, the JV team played Hueneme on Wednesday and won by a mammoth 52 points from sophomore Caden Kundar! The Varsity team plays again at home on Friday, with tipoff at 3:00 PM against New Roads, before travelling to their tournaments. Good luck to the team!

There aren’t any home games for our teams during the actual school week, but come out and support Boys Basketball on Friday! Good luck to all our teams, and have a wonderful winter break. Happy Holidays!