Hart girls soccer strengthens grip on Foothill League

Dan Watson/The Signal
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Hart locked up its fourth league win this year, this time with a 5-0 win on its home turf against West Ranch.

“We came out and played really well for about the first 15 minutes but just couldn’t get anything on net,” said West Ranch head coach Eric White.

The game started with a frustrating mistake for West Ranch (7-7-2 overall, 1-2-1 league). An attack from Hart’s Julia Melchiore turned disastrous for the Wildcats as it bounced off a defender and into their own goal in the first 10 minutes of the game.

With roughly five minutes left in the first half, the Indians (15-1-2, 4-0) formulated another attack, this time off of a corner kick. Ruby Burroughs drilled the ball high and to the center and Stefani Woll rose up and headed the ball into the net.

More: Highlight Reel: A look into the life of Hart soccer’s Alyssa Irwin

“She has a lot of assists,” said Hart head coach Guilherme Mitrovitch. “This time, she switched roles and went in the box for the corner and got a hard header in.”

In the second half, the West Ranch defense was able to start strong again and keep the Hart attack at bay. West Ranch defenders Natalie Link and Pisa Spizziri stood strong against the Hart forwards.

“I just thought for the first 55 minutes they did a great job of keeping them off-balance,” White said. “(They) played physical and organized. I was really proud of them.”

The Indian attack finally broke through the defense in the middle section of the second half to score three times within a span of roughly 15 minutes. 

“They are well organized, fast and relentless in their attack,” White said. “(A) well-coached team with high soccer IQ.”

The barrage of goals started with a strike from Alyssa Irwin. She was assisted by Mia Noble. Sarah Melvin scored the final two goals of the match. 

The first came on an assist from Maggie Yoshioka in which Melvin drilled the ball in with her left foot. Melvin’s second goal came courtesy of Sienna Frie.

“I thought she had a very solid game,” Mitrovitch said. “She was making good decisions on the ball. She’s been contributing a lot for us in the middle. I was really excited that she got two goals today because she’s been playing well, and I thought she got rewarded today.”

Both teams get back to the 2019-20 campaign on Tuesday afternoon. West Ranch will head back home to host Golden Valley who is hunting for its first league win. The match is at 3:15 p.m. Hart will travel to Saugus for a battle of high-pressure offenses and stout defenses at 3:15 p.m.

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