The girls of Turlock and Pitman high’s soccer teams met for the second time on Tuesday night, this time under the lights at Joe Debely Stadium.
Last time the Bulldogs (6-0-3 CCC) and Pride (6-0-3 CCC) kicked the soccer ball around and the match ended in a tie. This time the two teams provided a much more lively game and put more points on the board — but the end result was the same, a tie. After 60 minutes, Turlock and Pitman remained deadlocked with a score of 2-2.
Turlock struck first when Lindsey Aldax assisted Morgan DeLay for a fifth minute score. Eighteen minutes later, Turlock was pressing Pitman once again as a Bulldog free kick led to a Carissa Lopez goal. Lopez took advantage of a mishandled ball on Pitman’s part and scored from 10 yards out, placing the ball in the upper left hand corner of the net.
Pitman wasn’t discouraged by Turlock’s pair of goals though. In the 30th minute Marissa Marable stormed down the left side of the field and passed the ball to Miranda Davis who chipped the ball past Turlock’s Ashlen Kuntz for the goal. Five minutes later, Marable was at it again. This time she intercepted a Bulldog pass, ran down the center of the field past two Bulldog defenders, and rocketed the ball down the middle of the goal posts for the tying score.
After halftime Turlock’s offense continued to test and press Pitman as it shot 10 second half shots. Pitman’s keeper Karly Reed prevented a Turlock victory with seven second half saves.
As for Pitman’s second half offensive effort, the Pride failed to get off a single shot. The Bulldogs nearly took the game in the final minutes as Savannah Riddle took two shots at the goal but both shots hit and bounced off the cross bar.
Both teams remain undefeated — but also unsatisfied with their inability to claim victory over one another. Turlock and Pitman will meet again on May 1 in what will likely be a championship game.