May 21, 2008 > Icebirds avenge early defeat and tie for conference title Icebirds avenge early defeat and tie for conference title Submitted By Blaise Castren On Thursday, May 15, Icebirds avenged their only defeat of the season, scoring twice in the first half, then holding on to defeat the Sharks 2-1, in FC Fremont Under-12 Girl's House League play. The two teams finished tied for first place with 8-1-1 records and went 1-1-1 in head-to-head competition with each team having a win, a loss and a tie against each other. However, the Sharks were awarded the league's first-place medals because of tie breaking procedures. Raquel Rodas scored both goals in the victory for the Icebirds. The first goal was set up by a beautiful crossing pass from Ashley Campbell and the second score for the winners came on a breakaway set up by Jenna Wondka in which Rodas lured the Shark's goalie off her line then kicked it past her. Cindy Tafolla almost put the Icebirds up 3-0 before halftime but her shot bounced off the crossbar. After the Sharks cut their deficit to 2-1 early in the second half by finally finding the back of the net after three previous shots had missed, Lauren Youhanna and Kailey Richardson came up with heroic efforts for the Icebirds. Goalkeeper, Youhanna, came up with a big save, but could not secure the rebound and was out of position to thwart a follow-up shot. However, Richardson came out of nowhere to block the shot and save the Icebirds' lead. Later, Youhanna came up with two more saves, including a huge one near the end of the game. Eva Liu, Pavitra Ravishankar, Samantha Stephens and Claire Castren also had standout games on defense for the victors, while Ciara Valdez played tenaciously at midfield. The Icebirds were missing five players for their finale, Saturday, May 17, but still breezed to a 5-1 victory over the Cyclones. Elena Strom scored two goals while Wondka, Campbell and Monica Dunn added one each. It was Dunn's first goal of the season, making her the thirteenth Icebird player to score a goal this season. Strom and Wondka each had assists while Devin Minter played a strong game in midfield.