Flintridge Prep Girls Soccer Blows Out Mayfield

The girls soccer team avenged a early season loss to Mayfield by beating the Cubs 4-1 at home on Tuesday. Brooke Elby led the way with three goals while Connell Studenmund scored her first goal of the season.

“We were missing six starters when we played (Mayfield) last,” Flintridge Prep coach Esteban Chavez said. “Now everyone’s healthy and we played great.”

The Rebels wasted no time jumping ahead. In the game’s second minute, Arielle Baptiste made a forward pass to Keilan King, who passed to Elby in front of the goal. Elby cracked a shot into the corner to put the Rebels up 1-0.

“I think we caught them off guard,” Elby said. “Maybe they thought they would beat us easily since they did it earlier, but the quick goal gave us confidence.”

Flintridge was awarded a corner kick in the game’s 13th minute, and Elby crossed the ball into the Mayfield penalty box. The ball was temporarily cleared, but rolled right to Studenmund near midfield.

Studenmund fired two shots that were both blocked by a Cub defender. On her third try, Studenmund got a little more air under the ball and ripped a shot over the goalkeeper’s head and into the net from 23 yards out.

Shortly before halftime, Mayfield gift-wrapped a goal for the Rebels. Awarded a free kick near the Cub goal, a Mayfield defender made a bad pass. Abby Letts stole the ball and passed to a wide-open Elby in front of the net. Elby easily beat the goalkeeper to give Flintridge a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs were not without scoring opportunities of their own, but they came solely on set play scenarios. Twice in the first half the Cubs nearly scored on corner kicks.

In the game’s 65th minute, the Cubs were awarded a free kick from 30 yards out. Mayfield’s Charlotte Anderson crossed the ball in front of the Rebel goal, and Shannon Kilmer got a foot on the ball to knock it in for a goal.

“We need to work on defending free set plays more in practice,” Chavez said. “We shouldn’t feel threatened every time a team has a free kick.”

In the 73rd minute, the Rebels were awarded a free kick of their own. Studenmund kicked the ball up field and Elena Buckley made an excellent flick-on header right to the feet of King. King made a short pass to Elby, who put the ball in the corner of the net for her third goal.

“Brooke doesn’t need a lot of coaching,” Chavez said. “I just tell her to be patient because she’s going to get plenty of chances to score throughout the 80 minutes.”

Flintridge Prep improves to 2-0-1 in the Prep League and 9-2-3 overall with the win. The Rebels play at Webb on Friday.