Highlanders beat Acalanes on rainy night
Piedmont High School’s girls soccer team opened the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs with a 3-0 win over Acalanes on February 17. The fifth-seeded Highlanders advanced to the second round where they will travel to No. 4 Sonoma Academy on February 20. Match time is 7 p.m.
It was a cold, rainy night at Witter Field and the game against Acalanes was stopped for an hour due to thunder and lightning.
Piedmont got on the board first when at 10 minutes, Olivia Kan-Miller scored on a rebound of a Miranda Liu shot. The sequence began with a corner kick by Arden Sorensen-Wald.
The Highlanders went end-to-end to get their second first half goal, which came after the delay. Darcy McKee sent it upfield to Ayla Blanford on the right. She got the ball to Olivia Nealon who got it to Liu, sent the ball in low for the goal.
Piedmont’s final goal came at 45 minutes when Nealon worked a 1-2 pass with Elia Kwong that got to Liu splitting two defenders. Liu sent the ball over the goalkeeper for her second goal of the match.
The Highlanders last played Sonoma Academy in the opening round of the 2023 NCS Division 4 playoffs. Piedmont recorded a 4-1 win en rout to the NCS title.
Sonoma Academy advanced to the second round with a 2-1 win over College Park on February 17. The winner of that match will face the winner of No. 1 Branson-Ross vs. No. 9 San Rafael in the semifinals.