THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

The Whitney High girls soccer team went back-to-back last week to tie Pleasant Grove 1-1 and put a rout on Inderkum 5-0. The transition from spring soccer to winter brought on a change in how the Wildcats dress up and warm up, but it did not appear to affect their play. “It’s a lot different than what we’re used to,” said ‘Cats’ goalkeeper Jordan Higgins. “So we’ve got to layer-up before we go out and get a better warm-up than we’re used to because you can get tight pretty easily.” Higgins, who has been nursing an injury, had 17 saves against Pleasant Grove Dec. 1. The Eagles have been consistent visitors to the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I Playoffs the last three years. “Jordan had a phenomenal game today; she just does great things,” Whitney head coach Ana Jones said. “We want to keep her healthy. She’s a senior and I want her to remember this year.” Higgins did not play in the Inderkum game. Against Pleasant Grove, the Wildcats came out strong attacking the Eagles goal at least eight times. However, the Regal Birds blocked several goal attempts and Pleasant Groves’ goalkeeper make a couple of good saves. In the second half, Whitney seemed to lose their aggressive edge making it appear the Eagles’ 1-0 lead would hold up. “We had been working from the back and it worked in the first half. But the second half I think we felt threatened by the 1-0 lead,” Jones said. “So we tried to force the ball over the top, but they had such a strong defense we couldn’t break that defense.” As the clock ticked inside the 74th minute, Whitney’s Sammie Craig broke free and powered in a left-footed shot that settled in the right corner of Pleasant Grove’s net. “I know Sammie has speed,” Higgins said, “and we all (came) together and had a good run up there, and a good shot and it went in.” Although Jones was pleased to gain the tie, she said she would like to have seen the goal come off a better offensive play. With seven seniors on this year’s squad, Jones said the Wildcats could have an even better season than their 18-4-5 record last spring. Jones is working on instilling leadership into her upperclassmen to help pull her 11 underclassmen up to the level varsity requires. “After the spring season, now we’re in a new season and not a year apart. We’re like six months apart and that brings the chemistry of the team a little closer,” said Jones. “I think we can have a really good season; maybe even better than last year.” The ‘Cats took on Woodcreek (2-0) Tuesday and will now host the Quarry Cup Saturday when both the girls and boys teams square off against Rocklin. The soccer marathon begins at 9 a.m. with the freshmen and junior varsity follows. The varsity matches begin at 5 p.m. (girls) and the boys at 7:30.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Whitney High School Athletics

WHITNEY GIRLS SOCCER OFF TO GOOD START

JIM LINSDAU

Placer Herald | 12/8/2016

PHOTO CREDIT: Whitney High School Athletics