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The Verdugo Hills Dons (2-1) went to visit the Van Nuys Wolves (2-0) on Monday afternoon In the first game back after the Thanksgiving break for the Dons. Coming into this game Van Nuys was a strong opponent with the Wolves being more physically aggressive than the Dons. This did not make the Dons quiver once so ever, as they responded against the challenge and came away with a 6-4 victory.
Even with the Wolves’ physical aggression against them, the Dons were still able to score first. In only the 2nd minute of the match Striker Calia Peterson Henry opened the scoring. Just 8 minutes later, in the 10th minute, Midfielder Aolani Dominguez scored the second goal of the match for the Dons. Now up 2-0, the Dons continued to keep the pressure on the Wolves. Van Nuys did manage to break through and score themselves in the 18th minute to cut the lead in half. The Wolves did keep the pressure on the Dons as they managed to score another goal to tie the match at 2-2 in the 25th minute. With the game tied, the Dons did not stop for a single moment, as they regained the lead 4 minutes later. At the 29 minute mark of the match Lia Tsaturyan scored the third goal for the Dons. By halftime the score was 3-2 with the Dons leading.
Going into the second half of the game, both teams continued to keep up the pressure and be aggressive. The Dons managed to score the first goal of the second half as Peterson-Henry scored her second of the match. Peterson-Henry continued to dominate the Wolves, as she managed to score the next 2 goals as well. With one goal in the 54th minute, to complete the hat trick, and the last goal for Dons was scored in the 56th minute to make the score 6-2. Peterson-Henry goes to show she has a lot in her arsenal and can adapt to opponents and make the correct adjustments in favor for her and the Dons. Van Nuys did not once let up however, and in the 66th minute the main striker for the Wolves scored another goal. They did not stop there, as they did manage to score one other goal in the match, in the 72nd minute of the match. With the clock running down however this was all the Wolves were able to answer back, with the final scoreline 6-4 in favor of the Dons.
Even though the Wolves had speed and physicality in their favor, it could not beat the teamwork and cohesiveness of the Dons. Verdugo Hills managed to hold down the Wolves in the face of this adversity in addition to an injury scare in the second half. With this game this is the final game of their non league play. Their first league game is on Wednesday December 1 with the North Hollywood Huskies visiting the Dons.
