Tie feels like win for Ravens

So when the Sequoia girls’ soccer team hosted Sacred Heart Cathedral Thursday evening in Redwood City, Ravens head coach Melissa Schmidt did so without five players, including three starters — her starting center striker, a wing and a starting midfielder.

Additionally, Schmidt has four freshmen on the varsity roster, with three of them starting against the Irish.

And the last major problem facing the Ravens? Figuring out a way to slow down SHC’s Duke University-commit Francesca Johnson.

And yet Sequoia managed to take a point from the game, battling the Irish to a scoreless draw, one that felt like a win to Schmidt.

“Super happy,” Schmidt said. “The way we held to that pressure (was fantastic). Was there some luck? Sure. But [SHC] didn’t let up and we did not let down.”

While Schmidt didn’t have her full complement of players, she did get a chance to see what this year may hold and early returns suggest the Ravens are poised to once again battle for the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division crown after a down 2024-25 season.

Because Sequoia (1-0-1) certainly has some talented pieces, starting with sophomore defender Maddie Briant, who was tasked with guarding Johnson.

And it was a daunting task. Johnson’s first touch of the game showed her quality, as she danced over the ball before cutting back and around Briant before pulling a shot wide in opening 15 minutes.

“I grabbed [Briant] before the game and told her she was going to man mark (Johnson),” Schmidt said.

Additionally, Schmidt had another defender playing even deeper, as Charlotte Robertson and Emily Coller served as a last-line of defense.

Schmidt, however had to be careful of putting too many assets on just one player, no matter how good.

“We didn’t want to triple team her,” Schmidt said. “There were times we lost their wingers because we were so focused on [Johnson].”

And Johnson certainly proved dangerous throughout the game. In the 33rd minute, she came up with her team’s best scoring opportunity of the first half. Johnson ran onto a through ball angled in from the left wing and had a step on Briant.

As Johnson closed in on goal, Sequoia goalkeeper Izzy Madden looked like a hockey goalie as she slid across the goal mouth, left to right, and then essentially stacked her pads on the right post to deny Johnson.

There was a rebound, but the Ravens closed and cleared it our of danger.

But if Johnson was the best player on the field, Sequoia freshman Kayla Halada was the second-best. Working on the right wing, Halada was giving the SHC defense fits with her speed and nuance on the ball seldom seen by a player so young. She made several long, penetrating runs on the flank, working well with right fullbacks Abigail Ma and Amaya Caballero, along with center midfielder Leah McDowell.

“[Halada] brings a lot (to the offense). She’s super dynamic,” Schmidt said. “And the speed, you can’t overestimate it. Technically, she’s very proficient, too.”

Sequoia’s best scoring chance in the opening half came in the 17th minute off a free kick. From 40 yards out, Kate Dutton put a shot on goal that was punched over the top by SHC goalkeeper Kate Kehoe.

The Ravens managed just two shots in the first half, but they were both on goal.

In the second half, the Irish started to control more of the possession and have the better of the chances. But Hannah Orton, a freshman goalkeeper who played the second half, came up big. Orton had struggled in the Ravens’ season-opening, 5-3 win over San Mateo Tuesday, but she had a game-saving stop of her own in the 58th minute with a kick save near the right post to deny the Irish again.

SHC peppered the Sequoia goal in the second half, getting off 11 shots, but Orton finished with five saves in the half.

“That was really good,” Schmidt said of Orton’s second-half performance. “I was happy to see her have those moments.”

Sequoia didn’t manage to get off a shot in the final 40 minutes, but that doesn’t mean the Ravens weren’t dangerous and it was McDowell, a sophomore, who was the catalyst. There was about a five-minute spell where McDowell was running at the SHC defense and laying off dangerous passes to the left wing.

“She’s really coming into her own this year,” Schmidt said.

Annika Nehrenheim, a junior who played wing Thursday but is more of a center striker, made several dangerous runs on the left flank. In the 71st minute, McDowell slid a perfect through ball and Nehrenheim ran on to with a step on her defender.

But her second touch was too heavy and the SHC goalkeeper came off her line to grab it and end the threat.

“We had some good moments (0ffensively),” Schmidt said.

She hopes to have more once her team is complete.