Girls’ Soccer: Sage shows its depth

The Sage Hill School girls’ soccer team had to deal with the rain during Thursday’s Academy League game against visiting Oxford Academy.

What the Lightning want is to reign, as in on the top of the league for the second time in three years.

Sage Hill showed its depth Thursday. Five different players scored in the 5-0 victory against the Patriots.

Junior Taylor Magliarditi, junior Ashton Carroll, freshman Alana Karro, sophomore Olivia Lowe and sophomore Michelle Hung all found the back of the net for Sage Hill (7-4-1, 2-1 in league).

Coach Mike Hammond’s Lightning had a 2-1 setback against Crean Lutheran in their league opener before walloping Calvary Chapel Downey, 10-0, last week. But Sage senior midfielder Maya Roston said she already has been seeing improvement from the way the team played against Crean Lutheran.

“Today we were a lot more organized, especially in the midfield and the back,” Roston said. “We were doing much better marking up, which enabled us to keep possession. We definitely have a lot of depth up front and in the midfield, which is really helpful. Even when the subs go in, our play doesn’t really drop. A lot of the players that go in, they run track or cross country, so they’re super hard workers.”

Sage Hill showed it could work hard against Oxford Academy (4-7, 1-2). The Lightning took a 2-0 halftime advantage. Magliarditi scored in the eighth minute, before Carroll added the second goal just two minutes before halftime. She completed a nice sequence, as the ball was played from Roston to Hung to Carroll for the goal.

The Lightning continued peppering Oxford goalie Jaylyn Whitney, whose team suffered from far too many defensive breakdowns. In the 52nd minute, Karro scored off Roston’s corner kick. Then, in the 64th minute, Lowe struck off Carroll’s assist.

Hung, the standout tennis player for Sage, finished off the scoring minutes before the game ended. She scored a rebound goal on an assist by senior Marin Burns.

Defensively, the Lightning earned their second straight shutout. Senior keeper Sarah Lowey made a couple of saves before leaving midway through the second half to catch a flight. Freshman Nicole Motherway subbed in at keeper, and she also made two saves.

Seniors Maddy D’Amico and Julia Lowe anchored the defense, which also included Maya Jaffe, Cammi Phillips, Hannah Woodworth and Alicia Theologides-Rod.

“We’re continuing to talk and figure out where everyone is used to playing,” D’Amico said. “Getting to know each other as a team really helps, so as the season goes on, it should get a lot better ... In the first 10 minutes or so today, we were kind of not as organized. But as the game went on, we were talking a lot better.”

Senior Marina Wild created several good scoring chances and sophomore Sydney McCord, a transfer from Edison who recently became eligible, gave Sage good minutes at midfielder and forward. The McCord name is well known at Sage Hill due to Sydney’s older brothers, graduate CJ McCord and current senior Miles McCord, both football and track and field standouts.

“They’re all so athletic,” Roston said. “[Sydney] is so fast, just like her brothers. And she’s left-footed, which is useful on that side.”

Sage Hill plays at Brethren Christian on Friday. Next week, the Lightning play host to Whitney on Tuesday before getting their first crack at rival St. Margaret’s. The match against the Tartans is at home on Jan. 20 and concludes the first round of league play.