December 9, 2025

Written by Dave Smith

PALM SPRINGS: The Lady Wolves traveled to Palm Springs for a non-league contest. Long road games are always a little interesting in that you never quite know how ready you are when you get off the bus. I think the team grew stronger as a team as the bus ride and game gave them a chance to grow even closer as a team.

King got on the scoreboard in the 8^th minute when Sophomore Lucy Allen found an open Jordan Akparanta in the box for a shot. Jordan’s shot was deflected by Palm Springs and Macy-Paige Quiroz calmly collected the ball, took a touch, and blasted a shot beyond the reach of the Palm Springs keeper. In the 14^th minute, Gianinna Barillias’s corner kick found the head of Lilly Guerrero who deflected the ball into the net to make the score 2-0, which is how the first half ended. In the second half, Palm Springs had a relentless attack on the King defense. At the 70^th minute mark, a King defender fouled a player in the box which gave Palm Springs a penalty kick.

Palm Springs was able to convert the kick to cut the King lead in half. The King girls held strong at the end of the game and ended up with a 2-1 victory.

We struggled a bit finishing in the final third of the field. We need to continue developing the creativity on the field that will be needed for us to have a successful season. The girls missed playing on turf, as the field was especially challenging to them.  Jordan Akparanta said of the game,  “We fought hard to protect our lead. Even with a few challenges, we stayed composed and came out with the win. Now we are ready to take on our next opponents.”

We came into the game with six players injured or sick. This put a lot of pressure on the team to step up for their teammates and compete for the win. At the end of the day, we got the win and move on to our games on Thursday and Friday.