Sequoia, Menlo-Atherton girls’ soccer play to 1-1 draw in PAL Bay opener

Sequoia (0-0-1 PAL Bay, 6-1-1 overall) was sitting pretty after taking a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute on sophomore Addison Haws’s ninth goal of the season. But in the closing minutes, the 77th to be exact, M-A (0-0-1, 4-3-2) came away from a corner-kick scrum with an equalizer off the foot of sophomore Camille Melcher.

“What I really thought they were going to do was finish one of those chances in the second half,” Schmidt said. “Then when those things weren’t going in, it was one of those things where it starts to feel a little inevitable.”

Sequoia indeed had several good chances. The best of them came in the 54th minute when Haws sent a through ball into the box for team captain Nathalie Franco, who tried to angle around the goalkeeper to get a look only to have her shot slice just wide of the upright.

A one-goal differential is a dangerous game to play with an always talented M-A squad, and the Bears made the Ravens pay. While Sequoia dominated the pace of play in the first half — the Ravens bullied and strongarmed the Bears off the ball with abandon — M-A started playing the ball over the top effectively in the second half, causing both teams to regularly flip the field.

“They were definitely putting a lot of pressure,” Melcher said. “I think we were panicking (in the first half), so we just kept booting it and hitting it long. And in practice, we always try to connect through the middle. So, I think it was really after halftime that we turned it on, and we just decided we were just going to do whatever we have to do to win. So, it was like, even if they bring the pressure, we’re going to bring it right back.”

It was just such a connection through the middle of field that set up the game-tying goal.

Sophomore midfielder Tatum Olesen pushed the ball up the field to her M-A teammate, sophomore Georgia Auerbach, who took a good charge through the box only to have Sequoia goalkeeper Bella Burns get a touch on the ball to knock it over the end line.

“They just play well together all the time,” M-A head coach Jason Luce said of the two sophomores. “That’s kind of their trademark. I think they do that a lot.”

The ensuing corner kick was a mess of players cramming into the box. An initial M-A shot on goal was denied near the post by Sequoia defender Lauren Jones. But he rebound went to Olesen, who tapped it over to Milcher for another attempt.

“It came to me and then I hit it in,” Melcher said. “And then the [defender] kind of helped me hit it in.”

Sequoia was playing its backup goalie — Burns checked in to start the second half and turned in a splendid save in the 50th minute to deny a breakaway by sophomore Jordan Bradley — with Ravens starting keeper Gabriela Holloszy sidelined after the first half.

The Ravens were already missing six players due to COVID protocols but were missing just one starter. M-A was missing two players, and one starter, due to COVID protocols.

Despite the short squad, Sequoia came out by setting a blistering pace of play.

“I think we’ve been pretty consistent with our energy, especially at the start of the game,” Haws said. “We’ve been high pressure in the first five minutes, and then all the way throughout the game.”

The Ravens aren’t shy about showing off their collective leg strength and were content taking long shots — including the 30-yard look by Haws that put them on the board.

“Our midfielders and forwards were really not afraid to take your chances when they’re open,” Haws said. “So, a lot of us just take them and see what happens, because a lot of them are really good chances but some of them just don’t end up going in.”

Haws was set up in the middle of the field after her teammate Reese McKeon intercepted a goalie punt. McKeon quickly redirected the ball to Haws, and the Ravens’ scoring leader knew exactly what to do with it.

“I took my chance and it just happened to go in,” Haws said.

Sequoia graduated five players from last season’s CCS Division II runner-up squad but have added three freshmen and two first-year sophomores.

“They’re a strong team,” Luce said. “They possess it well. It just took us a while to sort it out, and then once we did, we started to put a little pressure on them. I thought we did great coming out to start the second half. … We just kept throwing everything at them, including the kitchen sink, and then finally got one.”