Lincoln lifts spirits with initial triumph

Chris Yemma

After letting their spirits sink following an opening-round loss

Tuesday to St. Joachim Elementary, the Lincoln B third- and

fourth-grade girls soccer team was in need of a boost.

The boost came in the form of a burst Thursday, as the Leopards

scored two goals in each half to claim a 4-1 Silver division victory

over Prince of Peace in its second game of pool play at Costa Mesa

Farm Complex.

Led by Janna Rosenberg’s two goals -- one in each half -- Lincoln

B (1-1) posted a complete offensive turnaround from its prior 4-0

loss. And the defense picked up the pace as well, limiting Prince of

Peace (0-1) to just one goal in the closing minutes of the first

half.

“I wanted to score and have fun,” said Rosenberg, who scored the

game’s second goal and final goal, while also barely missing several

attempts. “They scored a lot [on us Tuesday], so this was big for the

team.”

The entire team seemed to be lifted after the win, knowing what

the opening-round loss was like.

“We lost our first game, so this represents another chance for us

to play,” Leopards’ co-Coach John Clark said. “We’re going for the

win in the next game and the tournament championship.”

Natasha Fisker and Keaton Bassler scored the team’s other two

goals, with Fisker’s coming in the opening minutes for a quick lead.

Fisker also had several other close attempts on goal while

controlling the midfield.

“I was like ‘wow,’” said Fisker about how she reacted after

scoring her goal. “I felt so happy and confident.”

Said Bassler about her score: “I’ve never really scored a goal so

I felt really happy.”

Other key contributors to Lincoln B were Emily Glenn, Haley

Lutton, Sam DeVaney, Lauren Fox, Sara Clark, Asha Hardy and Jaime

Kingkade.

Leading Prince of Peace was Shonny McConnell, who scored in the

closing minutes of the first half to cut the deficit to 2-1. Other

solid Prince players included: Oaklee Friedman, Hayley Smith,

Victoria Sturdy, Kayli Sullivan, Madison Caffey, Sydney Caffey,

Lauren Sankey, Alex Tessier, Ariel Irby, Shelby St. Claire, Christy

Drake, Courtney Davis and Jane Jang.

Rosenberg scored her first goal on a pass from Fisker to give the

Leopards a 2-0 advantage which they thought they would take to

halftime. But McConnell managed to get herself in the right position

from point-blank range and tap it into the left side just before the

whistle.

In the second half, Bassler took a loose ball in the middle and

maneuvered her way to a clear shot, punching it in for a 3-1 Lincoln

B lead.

And Rosenberg put the icing on the cake for Lincoln B with her

last goal coming just before the last whistle.