PALMDALE FALCONS ARE BACK

The Palmdale High School Falcons start off their Golden League season with three consecutive victories against Quartz Hill High School 2-1, Pete Knight High School 2-0, and Burroughs High School 6-2 (non-conference away game). Palmdale had a preseason game versus Palmdale Aerospace Academy that ended in a 1-1 draw.

In their first and only pre-season game of the season, the Palmdale Falcons faced a very strong and determined Aerospace team. The Palmdale Aerospace Academy opened the score when #10 Carlos Mendez was able to beat the offside trap and taking a left footed shot to bring the academy ahead 1-0 in the first half.

In the second half, the Palmdale Falcons were able to maintain control of the midfield and started to create more scoring opportunities. Midfielder, Jorge Solorzano had a few close scoring opportunities but was denied by the Aerospace defense. With less than ten minutes left in the game, #3 Brandon Valdivia, scored the tying goal for Palmdale High.

Two days later, the Palmdale Falcons would face off against Quartz Hill High School Royals. The Royals would take the lead with #10 Davien Karanikolas (junior) goal in the first half. Later in the first half, #7 Jorge Solorzano would tie it up for the falcons with a left footed free kick strike from 25 yards out that would get passed the goalkeeper's attempt to pass the ball.

In the second half, Quartz Hill Royals came out with a strong offensive front, moving the ball down the wings and crossing the ball, time and time again, but the Palmdale defense, led by Anthony Reyes, would deny the royals time and time again. The offensive pressure would continue for most of the second half, but the falcons would keep of clearing the ball, time and time again. The Royals missed plenty of opportunities to win the game on the road. But in the beautiful game, the team that misses multiple scoring opportunities ends up conceding goals against. In the last two minutes of the game, #13 Alejandro Trujillo would fight for the ball near the right corner flag and dribble his way into the area where he tried to pass the ball, just to be poorly cleared by the defense, and Trujillo would one-time left footed strike to put the ball in the back of the net helping the falcons defeat the royals 2-1.

On December 3, the Palmdale Falcons would face their crosstown rivals Pete Knight Eagles. This match was full of excitement and hard-fought defensive battles. The falcons would earn their second consecutive victory led by the senior, #7 Jorge Solorzano, scoring twice for the falcons. The first goal scored was in the first half, when Jorge received a pass with his back towards the goal, he rotated and dribble the ball to his left and let out a strong shot that passed the goalkeeper's reach and into the net.

In the second half, Knight Hawks would come out creating plenty of scoring opportunities. However, the falcon’s goalkeeper would deny those efforts with a couple diving saves that sent made the home crowd get louder and louder by the minute. In the 13th minute of the second half, the falcons would take a quick corner kick, sending the quick pass to Jorge Solorzano, who would take advantage of the space given to him, taking a fierce left footed strike that went into the near post and pass the keeper's reach for his second goal of the match and third goal this season.

The Falcons will face Littlerock H.S. on Wednesday Dec 8th.

Photography by William Ortiz

Videos provided by Palmdale H.S. Parents