By ANNIE FOWLER, CUJ Special Contributor
PENDLETON — What a difference a couple of days make.
After dropping its season opener to The Dalles on Thursday, the Pendleton girls soccer team roared back with a 4-0 victory over Junction City on Saturday, Aug. 31.
“Overall, the team played much more composed this game than our first,” Bucks coach Kiana Rickman said. “The biggest thing we lacked coming into the season was experience, so as we are getting our feet under us we are starting to settle down.”
Senior captain Kelsey Graham scored all four goals for Pendleton (1-1), with assists by Jadyn Schmidt, Halle Pederson and Presley Greenwalt.
“We were able to connect across the front and create opportunities that we weren’t able to on Thursday,” Rickman said. I’m really proud of the coachability of this team. They want to learn, and they want to get better. It’s rare to have so many players with that mentality.”
Junior keeper Citlali Garcia finished with 10 saves to post the shutout.
Graham now has five goals over two games to start the season.
“Kelsey is an incredible play maker, and an incredible shooter, but she is much more than that,” Rickman said. “She is also the one that is coming back on defense and then getting back into position. Her competitiveness, endurance and composure on the field leads the energy and momentum we need.”
Graham said adjustments by Rickman helped the Bucks be successful against the Tigers.
“I’m proud of the way we played today,” Graham said. “Coach Rickman made some adjustments after our first game and we executed much better. Our passing was better, along with communication, which gave us several more opportunities.”
Pederson, a team captain with Graham, said the Bucks are adjusting well to a new team and coach.
“Coach Rickman made some rearrangements on the field and it really benefited us,” she said. “We worked better as a team and were overall quicker.”
KATHY ANEY | THE CUJ
