Lady Bombers Win Over Hanford Rivals - By Cannon Weikum
This last Thursday, the lady bombers took on their cross-town rivals, the Hanford Falcons. Although seeming like Rivals, the Lady Bombers have not lost to the Falcons since 2017, with a challenging game going into double overtime ending with Hanford scoring. This year, however, was not so close a game. The game got physical, but ultimately, the Lady Bombers took home the win 3-1 over the Falcons.
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| Photo: Ian Reardon |
The start of the game was very one-sided. Hanford's offense could not keep the ball on their side, and the defense was almost having a more challenging time stopping Richland from scoring. Richland had two shots on goal in the first three minutes of the game. The ball did not reach Hanford's half of the field until 5 minutes into the game when the bombers passed the ball out to swing around and change the flow. The pressure continued to come from Richland's offensive side during two back-to-back corner kicks. But Hanford’s defense did not let up either, not allowing either to result in a goal. But soon the defense was not enough, as Kearyn Elfring, a freshman forward playing for the Richland Bombers, assisted the senior year forward Payton Anderson making the score 1-0 (30:18). But this is not the end of the story, as little more than a minute later Kylee Kukes, a Junior year Forward, scores another goal (28:57). With the score now 2-0 Richland, Hanford’s defense steps up. With the defense playing tougher, the offense could make a stand for itself, even making progress into Richland territory. But the Bombers had a response to that, having two shots on goal within a minute of each other (~18:00). Both teams continued to play hard for the rest of the Half, ending with the Bombers up 2-0 against the Hanford Falcons.
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| Photo: Ian Reardon |
The second half starts, and you can almost instantly feel the difference in how the girls are playing. They are all much more physical than before. Whether it be the halftime locker room pep talks or just the fact they've played 40 minutes of soccer and woke up, both teams wanted the ball, and the referees allowed it. Forty seconds into the second half, a Hanford player shoulder-checks a Richland girl while making a run to the goal. This physicality continues on offense and defense as Hanford defenders push a Richland forward in the back without a call. Soon, we see that these referees were inconsistent with their calls, as Kylee Kukes was called for pushing a Hanford defender while trying to regain control of the ball. “Let the girls play” is what a fan from the stands yelled out after the lesser physical plays got flagged. The game continues as Hanford almost scores, but #16 Kirsten Griggs, a junior defender, gets in the way. The Bombers then move it down the field. Gaining ground with every pass. Once the ball got into the box, the Bombers passed it out to #23 Isabella Arroyo, a sophomore defender, who took a shot on the goal, but the Hanford Goalie made a great save (30:50). Two minutes later, the bombers would come back again with a shot on goal. However, it missed wide and high, allowing the goalie to save it. Both teams battled it out, but neither gained any advantage. The Pendulum was beginning to swing. As the physicality still showed, #23, Isabella Arroyo, received a yellow card while playing defense. This gives the Hanford team a free shot at the goal. However, this Turned to be no problem because the Hanford player shanked the shot, allowing the senior Bomber goalie, Makenzie Christian, to jog over and grab the ball (20:56). This shot allowed for the swing of momentum, as a minute later the Hanford goalie dived for the ball to stop the Bombers from scoring. This again caused the pendulum to swing as the Hanford Falcons ran down the field, passed the ball, and scored a goal (19:19). But the lady Bombers did not take this and crumbled. They took it in stride as Niyah Gallegos scored a deep goal less than a minute later. However, this goal was taken back due to the referees calling offsides, leaving the score 2-1 Richland.
Both teams continue to play, but the pendulum rests in the Bombers' favor. The Richland offense kept the game on their terms for almost the rest of the game The last score happened within the next 5 minutes. #2 Kylee Kukes had an amazing assist to #17 Payton Anderson, who slid in, scoring the ball (13:23). Final 3-1 Bombers “I felt like a Penguin sliding into the goal’ was how Payton described scoring that goal. Kylee Kukes explained the scoring that goal “made running the whole game worth it.” One fan, Lillie Mann, had some words about the game: “The game went pretty well. The referees may not have been calling much, but they were pretty even. They were consistently inconsistent.” But in the end, it did not matter that much as the Bombers came out of the game with a 3-1 win over their cross-town rivals.
