Grizzly Soccer Rounds Out Pre-Season with Green and White Scrimmage

Jessica Palacio
The Paw Print

Both the Grizzly men’s and women’s soccer squads had their annual green and white scrimmages over the weekend.
The grizzly men started of the weekend on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the ASU Soccer and Lacrosse Field. The green squad started the match with a kick off by Redshirt Freshman Stece Petrov (#27). While the white squad was the first team to score early on in the first half they were quickly answered with a strong play resulting in a goal by the determined green squad.
For the greater part of the game the green squad was able to maintain position of the ball keeping the white squad on alert particularly the goalie. With many attempts on the goal by the green squad it was a tough and impressive game for both of the white squad’s goalies.
However the green squad’s persistence prevailed and lead to an impressive goal for Vicente Vega (#25). Vega’s goal soared high middle over the goalies head giving the green squad a 2-1 lead that they would maintain for the remainder of the game.  The second half yielded no goals for either team, but was an excellent display of both squad’s technical skill and prowess.
The Grizzlies Men are picked to finish 8^th this season in the RMAC conference but if this weekend’s scrimmage was any indication this Grizzly squad has the potential to exceed expectations and finish the season higher than the projected 8^th.
For the men’s squad this is the third in a series of four pre-season scrimmages this year, they will have their next scrimmage Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 3 p.m. against Otero Junior College here at home on the ASU Soccer and Lacrosse Field.
The Grizzly women had their scrimmage Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. on the ASC Soccer and Lacrosse Field. The game started off with a kick off by Sophomores Jenezza Sandoval (# 3) and Allie Mercado (#22) of the black squad.  Sandoval was also the first of the Grizzly ladies to score in the game with a cross goal assist by team mate Amy Salinas (#17) giving the black squad an early lead of 1-0.
With fairly equal possession time both the black and white squads had many goal attempts and opportunities. Unfortunately for the white squad they were unable to convert any of their plays into goals; where as the black squad had two more goals in the first half that gave them a comfortable 3-0 lead.
The second half began with the white squad kicking off and eager to close their three goal deficit. White had the opportunity to start up some momentum in the thirteenth minute of the second half with a penalty kick taken by senior Michelle Little (#4). Unfortunately for Little and her team the penalty kick was blocked by the goal keeper.  The game ended with the same score that they had at the half 3-0 in favor of the black squad.
The Lady Grizzlies are projected to finish 10^th in the RMAC conference pre season coaches poll, behind Colorado Christian. Yet with any combination of luck, skill and determination, the Lady Grizzlies should not be counted out of contention for a higher end of season finish. For the women this is the third and final of their pre-season scrimmages. They will kick of their season Aug. 30at 3 p.m. against Western State.