Jayden and her Riverview Lady Sharks teammates stayed home to
wrap up 2023 with a contest against the Indians of East Bay High
School. Jay once again started off at her now usual midfield
position, and was on the field as her team got off to a fast start.
On the very first shot of the game, the Sharks were able to jump out
to the lead, as the Riverview forward was able to drive through the
Indians defense and fire a shot past the keeper and into the net.
The Sharks continued to take shot after shot, but they weren't able
to score again before the water break. In a break from recent
tradition, all 11 starters remained on the field after the break,
and they were rewarded with another goal after the East Bay keeper
played a goal kick out almost directly to a Riverview player, who
easily stole the ball and fired a shot past the left arm of the
Indians goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead. At this point Riverview
substituted almost every player on the field. Those players made a
concerted effort to get their regular goalkeeper - who was playing
forward tonight - a shot. She managed to convert shortly after
entering on a shot that sailed right through the outstretched arms
of the East Bay keeper, making it a 3-0 game. They would tack on a
fourth goal before the half came to a conclusion, as the usual
Sharks keeper managed to fire another shot into the back of the net,
this one on a short shot to the right of the keeper. That would be
the score heading into halftime. The second half got off to an
interesting start, as Jayden had to point out during the opening
kick that it shouldn't be East Bay with the ball, but rather it was
Riverview who should be getting the ball to start. Thankfully they
got to redo the opening kick after she was able to point that out.
Unfortunately Jay's time on the field in the second half was
short-lived, as she ended up hurting her ankle. The team kept
attacking though, and they widened their lead once again on the
first shot of the half, thanks to a penalty kick that we drove into
the top right corner of the goal for a 5-0 lead. A short time later
the Sharks were able to drive through the Indians defense once again
and drove an easy kick past the East Bay keeper who appeared to have
given up at this point. It was now a 6-0 game. Jay reentered the
game, but this time on defense. As the Indians struggled to mount
much of an attack, this gave her an easy way to test out her ankle
(she appeared to be OK at this point). The Sharks would add two more
goals, one from a very tough angle, to invoke the 8-0 mercy rule,
ending the game early. Way to go Sharks! |