St. John the Baptist girls gold team eats lunch

Submitted by Don Harper

“Potato chip, potato chip, crunch, crunch, crunch, we are going to eat the other team for lunch!”

That’s the cheer for the very young third- and fourth-grade St John’s gold team made up of mostly second- and third-graders. St. John’s had only enough players for one team at this grade level but so far the players have been golden and eating well.

On Wednesday they earned a 3-1 victory over a tough Kaiser team led by Zoe Conley, who challenged them all evening long. The day before the Irish girls managed a 4-2 win over a very strong and talented Our Lady Queen of Angels’ team in what looked like an upset.

In both games the Irish have played great defense led by Faith Harper, Julia Ware and Maile Novotny with support from by Lucy O’Hara and Chanel Pyburn. While they all played well, the defensive star in the first game was second-grade goalie Emma Warner, who had numerous saves against a relentless Angels’ assault.

The midfield has been covered by Megan Kelly, Camille Danner, Saide Blanco, Allison Sihilling and Janelle Maglione. On offense Julia Ware and Faith Harper have contributed out of the backfield and helped Julia Barajas pull off a hat trick in the first game. In the second game, Gretchen Shoenberger, Emilie Leath and Meagan Kelly all stepped up to provide the offensive fire power needed to pull off a victory.