Loveland girls soccer’s longstanding success against Mountain View continued Saturday afternoon in the latest edition of the crosstown matchup.
Powered by junior Norah Patella’s first career hat trick, Loveland rolled to an 8-0 victory, improving to 12-0 against the Mountain Lions since 2009. For Patella, her three-goal performance at the Thompson School District soccer field in Loveland was arguably long overdue.
“She deserves it,” Loveland junior Makenna Bruno said of Patella. “She was working so hard today. She was working for the team, not just herself. It showed all the hard work she’s put in.”
Patella made clear that she benefited from her teammates’ selflessness. Freshman Berkley Henry and senior Abigail Machado, for example, each tallied three assists on the afternoon.
“Definitely the ball movement and how everybody scanned the field,” Patella credited. “They were willing to pass instead of just dribbling around.”
Behind Patella, Bruno scored two goals, and three Red Wolves scored once in Machado, Henry and senior Abigail Reiss.
Machado got the scoring started less than seven minutes into the first half with her fourth goal of the season. About four minutes later, Henry scored, followed by two each from Bruno and Patella within the game’s first 40 minutes.
“The first goal went in, and it was like, ‘Wow, we can put so many away,’” Patella said. “We were working really well together as a team, and I think it bonded us and led us to more goals every time we scored.”
Although she wasn’t challenged often, senior goalkeeper Reagan Pol held things down in net for the Red Wolves.
After winning only three games last season, Loveland now stands 4-4 heading into its Northern League opener against Rocky Mountain on Monday.
“It feels great,” Bruno said. “I think everybody’s in the right state of mind going into league games. This was a huge win for us, and I think everybody’s going to take that into the games that we have left. Granted, the games that we have might not go the way that we want, but it’s definitely going to boost the whole team.”
With four starters out due to injury, the young Mountain Lions (2-6) were largely overmatched Saturday. However, second-year head coach Rimini Hickey is optimistic about her underclassmen. Sophomore Avery Rolph and freshmen Riley Lamar and Scarlett Marquez have all enjoyed strong moments early this spring.
“Once we get some of those injured players back, and once we get the freshmen really contributing, it’ll be a different story,” said Hickey, who has only two seniors in her program.
For now, Hickey is largely focused on helping her younger players adjust to the varsity level.
“If you’re not gonna win, you’re gonna learn,” Hickey said. “We either win or learn. Right now, we’re doing a lot of learning.”
Mountain View will look to bounce back Friday when it hosts Berthoud.
