Junior Cleverina Cong rushes up the field alongside her teammate freshman Jill Tramandozzi. Photo by Liam Elliott.
The girls soccer team defeated their biggest rival, Medford, 1-0 in a nail biter of a match on October 14, 2015. One goal, from junior Felicia Lombardi, sealed the deal for the Golden Tornadoes.
From the first whistle to the last, the game was back and forth, both teams giving it their all and competing harder than the other. It was a
shot from about 40 feet out that changed the game and tilted the game in Malden’s favor. The girls played hard in front of a crowd filled with important people at Malden High School, including Athletic Director Dan Keefe, Holland House principal Marilyn Slattery, and principal Dana Brown. With all of these people in attendance, the girls played with all of their hearts and left it all on the field.
Unlike their games against Everett and Lawrence, the Medford Mustangs did not make it an easy game to win. From the start both teams were constantly handing possession over to the other, soon enough the fans at the game realized that this game was going to come down to mistakes–whoever made the least would be the victor. Senior captain Jacqueline Smith showed leadership and heart throughout the game, constantly moving and never standing still. At one point in the first half, Smith was skipping around to stay warm and sync her run to the net in perfect unison with junior Brynn Kankel’s free kick.
Back and forth, back and forth, that was the rhythm of the game until Lombardi capitalized on an open lane for a shot. She planted her foot and came down with a punishment on that soccer ball, sticking it in the top right corner of the net. She broke the game open at the 21 minute mark, and from there on out the game was in the hands of Malden.
But that was not the last offensive chance for the team. Senior Zeina Greige and freshman Jill Tramandozzi both had multiple rushes up the field but the moments were stolen away by the play of Medford’s defense.
At halftime Malden held the lead at 1-0 and it did not change for the rest of the game. In the second half the game was a continuation of the first, back and forth, back and forth. Smith states that “[She] thought that the win over Medford was an amazing achievement but that there is still room for improvement.”
With this win the girls improve to 6-5 on the season, meaning that they need just 3 more wins to make it to the MIAA State Tournament.
Correction: An earlier version of this article included an incorrect photo caption that listed freshman Jill Tramandozzi as the teammate running beside junior Cleverina Cong.
