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Sports

Soccer Squads Win League Openers

The Palisades High girls team beats University 4-0; the boys win 2-1.

The girls varsity soccer team began the season knowing it would be hard pressed to equal what the Dolphins achieved last year when they won 22 of 24 games, scored 82 goals and advanced to the Los Angeles City Section finals under former coach Tianna Oliver. However, early results have been promising.

Last winter, the team allowed only one goal in 12 Western League games, so this year's Dolphins wanted to start off league on the right foot and they did, shutting out host L.A. University 4-0 Wednesday afternoon. Palisades won the game, but it lost Coach Giulio Montalto, who quit right afterwards, just three games into his tenure. Assistant John Lissauer will pilot the team until a new coach is hired.

The Dolphins needed only seven shots to produce their four goals, two each by senior forward Katie van Daalen Wetters and junior midfielder Grady Gitlin. In the 20th minute, van Daalen Wetters scored on a header off Gitlin's corner kick and Grady, one of the team captains, added an unassisted goal 12 minutes later.

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Grady scored on a corner kick when the Wildcats' goalkeeper misplayed the ball, allowing it to cross the goal line, in the 54th minute. Then, three minutes before full time, van Daalen Wetters lofted a shot just under the crossbar off a pass by Marika Lundeberg. Marika's youngers sister, Annika, and junior Avid Khorramian combined for the shutout.

"We've been running mostly a 4-3-3 [formation] but we'll probably switch to a 4-5-1," said Montalto, whose resignation was a surprise to the players. "There's a minimal drop-off from the starters to the bench. It's rebuilding, but it's a good rebuilding year. The girls are playing in space and getting better by the minute."

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The Dolphins (2-1) bounced back from last week's 8-0 intersectional defeat to  Studio City Harvard-Westlake, which came two days after a 6-1 nonleague rout of Taft in Palisades' season opener. The Dolphins split games with the Toreadors last winter, losing 1-0 in a nonleague game, then exacting revenge by the same score in the playoffs. This time, van Daalen Wetters scored two goals and Clara Clymer, Morgan Ekstrom, Eve Babcock and Lily McGuire each added one.  

The Dolphins host Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies on Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Stadium by the Sea and host Venice Dec. 16 before starting Winter Break.

BOYS SOCCER

Playing its league archrival University under the lights at Pali High, the boys team fell behind 1-0 less than 10 minutes into the contest, but Kyle Warner tied the score off a through ball from Ben Kim in the 19th minute.

Palisades went on the attack in the second half and Kim tallied the winner on a bouncing header in the box, assisted by Tadashi Geitsen, and Brandon Newman made three saves in goal to preserve the 2-1 victory. 

"That was Ben's first goal for us and he's someone we'll be counting on for more  offense," Coach Dave Suarez said. "He's great with the ball, he's good in the air. And David Joy did a great job setting up plays. I wasn't too worried when they scored because I knew we'd settle down and create some chances."

Kevin Strangeway, a senior midfielder, pulled a hamstring in the Dolphins' 0-0 draw with Palos Verdes at last Saturday's San Pedro Pirate Cup and could miss six weeks. Later the same day, a shorthanded Palisades squad lost to Roosevelt 2-1, with Warner netting the Dolphins' only goal in the second half. Two starters had received red cards in the Palos Verdes game and thus were unavailable against the Roughriders.

Suarez counted about 30 quality scoring chances in his team's season opener Nov. 28 at Brentwood. The Dolphins converted only two—on first-half goals by Lucas Wetherby-Jonsson (assisted by Ruben Espana) and Jason Kogosov—but that was all they needed to post a 2-0 victory. Newman played 55 minutes in net, making three saves, while Danny Bailey stopped two shots in his 25 minutes of work.

Palisades (2-1-1) travels to LACES for a league game Friday at 2:30 p.m. and plays host San Pedro in the resumption of Pirate Cup action Saturday afternoon. The Dolphins won the Western League last year and reached the quarterfinals of the City playoffs, defeating Kennedy 3-1 in the first round and Jefferson 4-1 in the second round before falling to Wilmington Banning 6-1.  

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