EVANSTON — The Evanston High School Lady Red Devil soccer team took the field at home against the Green River Lady Wolves on the afternoon of Friday, April 27, aiming to recover from a loss against Rock Springs earlier in the week. Though the Devils fought hard, the Wolves came away with a 2-0 victory. 

From the opening whistle, the Devils showed more confidence and discipline than the earlier mid-week game, with far more on-field chatter among the girls. The third minute of the match showed the Devils pressuring the Wolves, with a build-up between forwards Quetzalli Penaloza and Sierra Burleigh resulting in a shot that went just wide of goal. 

EHS keeper Taryn Wagstaff saved a shot taken by Green River in the eighth minute, while another Green River effort in the 11th minute went over the posts. 

A free kick by EHS senior Micah Harvey nearly resulted in a goal for the Devils in the 12th minute, when Penaloza and Burleigh again pressured the Wolves and again the shot was just off frame. 

The remainder of the first half saw multiple attempts by Green River, none of which resulted in a Wolves’ goal. A free kick taken by Green River’s Carly Kettering was punched away by Wagstaff, and another taken by Chezney Mamalis was stopped by the wall. 

Wagstaff saved another shot taken with 9:40 remaining on the clock, and the score stood at 0-0 at the half. 

The Wolves took the lead early in the second half with a run-of-play goal from Mamalis with 36:38 on the clock. 

The Devils’ offense was plagued by multiple offside calls throughout the second half of the match, as well as a couple of handballs. Despite these offensive struggles, the Devils had multiple opportunities and shots on goal and managed to hold the Wolves to a single score for nearly the entire half.

The Lady Devils’ side claimed a large share of possession and took several corner kicks in the final 10 minutes of the match but were unable to find the back of the net. As the Evanston girls’ fatigue started to show, Green River’s Kylee Hosford scored with 1:14 left on the clock to secure the Wolves’ 2-0 win. 

Devils’ head coach Chuck Grenfell said the girls fought courageously throughout the match and noted that only 12 girls took the field for EHS during the entirety of the game due to injury and last-minute illness. “It’s tough but we deal with it,” he said. “We went down fighting, that’s for sure.” 

Next up is a match against Jackson on Friday, when Grenfell said he hopes to have a few girls back from injury, including Bailey Porter and Nayeli Mota. Grenfell said Jackson has a few really good players on their side and he expects another challenging matchup. 

The Devils will take the field at home against Jackson on Friday, May 4, at 3 p.m. at Evanston Middle School. The match is the final home game for EHS this season, when the side will also be saying goodbye to a few four-year starters during the Devils’ annual senior night.