Sobrato's Alyssa Gummow competes for control of the ball with Valley Christian's Emily Von Raesfeld during the second half of Wednesday's game at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center.
MORGAN HILL -- Maggie Cropp said her hands did not "hurt too bad" after Sobrato's 2-0 loss to Valley Christian.
Which came as a shock, considering the freshman goalkeeper made a dozen saves.
"I have nice gloves," Cropp said.
Cropp needed them Wednesday at the frosty Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center. She was peppered with 28 shots by the visiting Warriors, who supplied little opportunity for Sobrato (0-1-2) to avenge last year's loss to Valley Christian in the first round of the CIF-Central Coast Section Division II playoffs. The Warriors (2-0-1) -- of the West Catholic Athletic League -- returned to the site of that match Wednesday and won by the same score, but in more dominant fashion. They controlled possession for almost the entire game, keeping the ball on the Bulldogs' side of the field, and did not surrender a single shot.
Without star forwards Jennae Cambra and Janelle Cisneros, who will likely miss the entire season, Sobrato's offense was ineffective.
"Their central midfielders are really strong, and so they were able to get the ball anywhere," Sobrato coach Paul Nishimatsu said. "We just couldn't get the ball out of our zone. Defensively, we played well. We didn't produce offensively like I thought we would."
Valley Christian cemented the win with a first-half goal by Raylina Rodriguez, and a second-half score by Briana Garrison. Rodriguez's goal came in the 27th minute when she one-timed a cross from Bernadette Fahmy. Rodriguez switched roles for Garrison's goal in the 76th minute, threading a short pass to Garrison who banked home a 14-yard shot off the crossbar.
"The first goal was a good one," Nishimatsu said. "The second one I think we should have had. We could have defended that better. I don't know if it was communication or not. Some people might have been off their marks -- you can't do that against Valley Christian."
The Bulldogs came close to pulling even in the 61st minute, when Marissa Benjamin received a long pass at midfield while a defender tripped over her. Keeping her feet, Benjamin was in a 2-on-1 situation with teammate Rachel Bakin, who was streaking toward the net.
"It happened so fast," said Benjamin, a sophomore. "My adrenaline was just going. I was just thinking, 'get the ball to Rachel.' "
Benjamin lofted a beautiful cross for Bakin, but Warriors goalie Kendra Gillion made a leaping catch to break it up.
Sobrato had another chance to score on a corner kick in the first half. Kayla Nishimatsu -- Paul's daughter -- sent the ball into a crowd, and Valley Christian's Emily Von Raesfeld cleared it, putting the Warriors back on the offensive. They launched three shots in the next two minutes; the first caroming off the crossbar, and the next two finding the outstretched arms of Cropp.
"She's amazing isn't she," Paul Nishimatsu said of his keeper. "She's going to be able to hold us in most games this year."
The second-year coach expects a similar level of competition this season in Blossom Valley Athletic League-Mount Hamilton Division play. The Bulldogs have challenging matches against Willow Glen and rival Live Oak before opening league competition against Branham on Dec. 12.
"As far as league, (the Warriors) are going to be the caliber of team that we're going to face," Paul Nishimatsu said.
Von Raesfeld tallied a game-high six shots for Valley Christian, which did not let up after Rodriguez's goal. The Warriors took four more shots on net in the final three minutes of the first half.
"They had a lot of fast players, and they ran around our defense," Cropp said. "They were shooting all the time.
"We have two our best players hurt right now, so I expected something like this. We were always on our heels."
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