By Mary York
Aggression. From the sweaty defenders to the unrelenting offense, the Grossmont Lady Griffins women’s soccer team put aggressive play on exhibit and won their second match this season against Southwestern College’s Lady Jaguars, 5-1.
Despite a rough start and a bench full of freshmen, the Lady Griffins are sinking their talons into this season. Grossmont is 1-5 in the Pacific Coast North Conference and 5-6-1 for the season.
By Mary York
Aggression. From the sweaty defenders to the unrelenting offense, the Grossmont Lady Griffins women’s soccer team put aggressive play on exhibit and won their second match this season against Southwestern College’s Lady Jaguars, 5-1.
Despite a rough start and a bench full of freshmen, the Lady Griffins are sinking their talons into this season. Grossmont is 1-5 in the Pacific Coast North Conference and 5-6-1 for the season.
“I think we are right in there,” said head coach Jason Aldous. “I think we have had a run of bad luck. We have had a few players injured, but the girls have stepped up and dealt with it.”
Only five of the 21 rostered players are sophomores, but Aldous said the team is channeling the buzz of fresh players to their benefit.
“There’s a lot of excitement from them,” he said of his club. “We have played some games against some experienced players so the girls were really excited. They’re definitely working very hard.”
Alissa Gildark, 20, business major, said the fresh blood is proving to be a valuable asset.
“I honestly think it is not affecting the team in a negative way,” said the striker who spent most of the game tearing up the Grossmont Green. “It is definitely a positive because we have brought a lot of new people and it has gotten us pumped up.”
Defender Hana Frank, 22, biomedical engineering, agreed with her fellow Griffin, adding that the younger players may even have an advantage.
“A lot of people are coming straight out of high school which is helpful,” she said. “I actually took a break from high school to college and I feel like it took me a long time to get my touch back and get back in shape. I feel like those coming straight out of high school are still in it.”
Both women are freshmen and both stood out on the field during Friday’s game, driving the ball towards the Lady Jag’s goalkeeper with ferocity, an impressive feat considering that both Gildark and Frank have also warmed the bench this season with injuries.
“I definitely hope that nobody else gets injured because we have had a lot of injuries,” said Frank of the team’s six injuries, which include several torn ACL’s. “So I hope that we can stay healthy and those who’ve been injured can recover really well and that we can use this momentum to keep stepping forward.”
Aldous said he wants to see them make a good push for the end of the season.
“Our goal is to do a little bit better than we have,” he said. “At this point I really want to see our girls fight back and see how far we can go.”
And the team has every intention to do just that.
“We had a couple of unlucky loses,” said Frank. “But we’re a great team and have a lot of potential and this game showed that.”
