January 8, 2026

Written by Dave Smith

RIVERSIDE:   The King girls hosted Norco in a Big 8 league match that ended up in a 0-0 tie. King came out strong with many shots on goal that were either blocked or missed their mark. At the end of the half, King had completed over 100 passes, taken six shots, and helped Norco to 1 shot. In the second half it was a different story as Norco adjusted to what the girls were trying to do and took us out of our game plan. King had very little attack in the second half while Norco dialed up the pressure and was able to take shots on us.

In the 70^th minute of the game, Norco’s leading scorer beat our last defender and had a breakaway toward our goal. Freshman goalkeeper Aaliyah Abeyta fearlessly charged toward the player while keeping herself between the ball and the goal. When the striker blasted her shot, Aaliyah blocked it with her body and saved the team from losing the game. It was the play of the game by the player of the match.

This was a game that we worked hard to get a positive result and came up short. “ We could have won tonight,” said Jaslynn Lopez, “although it did show both our potential and what we need to do to improve. The team stayed unified, played with heart, and never lost belief. We’ll take this lesson into the next game and fight hard for the result we are looking for”.  Indeed, it was a disappointing because we know we could have executed better and should have been able to score goals against a strong league opponent.

We need to continue being an adaptable team who understands that when what they are doing is not working, to try a different tactic or approach to get the result we are looking for.

King is now 13-3-4