Fallon ends with a bang

The Lady Wave soccer team played an intense match, Wednesday, ending the season with a 4-2 loss against Incline.

The match started in a stalemate as both teams fought hard for an advantage. Almost halfway through the half, Fallon’s Alexis Jarrett sent the ball into the Incline goal for a 1-0 lead. Fallon fought hard to hold the lead, but the Lady Highlanders broke through and tied the score with 12 minutes left. Another goal made it in with 8 minutes to play, closing the half 2-1 to Incline.

As the second half started, Incline scored another goal right off the bat and another shot through at 34:15. The Lady Highlanders played a fierce defense, keeping Fallon away from their goal. With 15 minutes left on the clock, Indica Simpson broke through to score her first varsity goal and the final goal of the match.

Fallon coach Randy Hines said his players were pumped up and ready to go at the start of the senior night match. He said it seemed like fatigue from playing five games in a week might have caught up with them by the second half; he was proud of the outcome, though, and said they played hard.

“It was kind of fun to see them play,” Hines said. “We had them up 1-0 and I think Incline was shocked, I don’t think they expected it.”

Co-captain Chandler McAlexander said they started the match confident and playing strong. She said they got anxious, though, and started falling back into “playing kickball.” She also recalled the season was rough with lots of obstacles; the team kept going, though, and worked hard.

Hines said the season has gone well considering how everything came together. With a number of injuries early in the season, he said they had to adapt and move players around to positions they were less familiar with. He said the players who made it through the season “worked their tail off.”

McAlexander said moving around positions was hard, but she feels they pulled the changes off and worked hard to get to where they ended the season.

Seven players are graduating from the team this year — Sierra Cortez, Sara Rodarte, Jordyn Dahl, Sierra Hickox, Kaimani Feliciano, Lupe Desantiago and Indica Simpson.

McAlexander said the seniors left the younger players something to take care of and they would have to work twice as hard next year.

Hines said they have lots of work to do in the off-season this year and will be busy rebuilding. Several juniors and sophomores will be able to play again next year, though, and lots of talent is available to draw from.

“I think next year our starters, and the ones we replace with bench players this year, will start off with a really strong team,” Hines said. “We just have to wait till next year and see how that turns out.”

The coach said he feels they will look back on the season as a good one, though not the outcome they wanted.

He said he hopes to work with the players in the off-season to keep everyone fit and ready to play. He also said he wanted to do some exercises to hopefully prevent further injuries in the future. Members of the team not playing basketball will be able to play indoor matches and the coach hopes to play more in the spring.