Continuing to build momentum, the Piedmont Girls Soccer Team earned its sixth victory of the season against San Leandro on Tuesday night, winning 3-1.

The Highlanders started out strong, with senior Miranda Liu scoring 14 minutes into the game. Sophomore Ayla Blanford scored near the end of the first half, bringing the score to 2-0.

“After a great ball from Miranda in the box, it felt great to get another goal that really came from our team as a whole,” Blanford said.

Partway through the second half, freshman Emily Hu was subbed in, making her varsity debut a memorable one by scoring the final goal of the night.

“I’m really proud of [Emily],” Captain Senior Darcy McKee said, “I think she’s going to do great on varsity next year.”

Despite the win, head coach Spencer Pratt said the Highlanders did not perform as well as expected.

“I think we’re a much, much better team than we showed tonight,” he said.

Pratt said formation was an issue with the absence of key players like McKee, who was injured a couple of weeks ago.

“I think when you’re missing someone like Darcy, who’s got the speed at the back, then perhaps we need to change [formation] earlier than we did today,” he said.

After the game, freshman Olivia Nealon said she wants to keep her head up in the next game and put in all her effort.

“There were a lot of times where I got really frustrated during this game and let [San Leandro] get to me, so I kind of just slowed down,” she said. “So next game I want to try and work on putting in 100 percent even if things start not going my way.” 

Despite not performing their best in this game, Pratt said he has high hopes for the rest of the season.

“I’d like to see us go to CIF and then see how far we can go in CIF if everyone stays fit,” he said.

 Pratt said the team is gearing up for their big game against Bishop O’Dowd this Friday.

 “[It is] probably the toughest game we’re going to play all season, we need to get a little bit more confidence and assured than we were tonight,” Pratt said.