Cabrillo stifles Falcons' offense in 1-1 tie

A perfect late-summer evening provided a an idyllic setting for a Friday night soccer match between two of northern California's highly-ranked teams.  The Cabrillo Seahawks (#8 in NorCal) came to Folsom ready to play and had a game plan to neutralize the Falcons' (ranked #2 in NorCal) high-octane offense.  Early on, it looked like the Falcons would dominate the match, but too many near-misses and unlucky bounces kept the game scoreless.  Finally in the 19^th minute, freshman Gigi Hall found the net (assist by Maggie Munoz) for a 1-0 lead.  The Seahawks, to their credit, did not hang their heads but instead raised their level of play.  They answered back just five minutes later with a goal of their own to tie it at 1-1.  The attacking defensive strategy seemed to be working for the Seahawks as they pressured the Falcons into hurried passes deep in their half of the field.  Both teams had close calls in the second half, but neither managed a goal as they played a scoreless 45 minutes, resulting in a 1-1 tie.

"Got to give them credit," commented FLC head coach Donny Ribaudo.  "They came in with a plan and played it to perfection.  But that's soccer; you don't always win the ones you think you should." 

The Falcons (4-0-1) will travel to Los Altos Hills on Tuesday afternoon to face Foothill College (1-2) at 3:30 pm, then return to play at home on Friday afternoon.