Women’s Soccer Ends Drought with 4-3 Win Against Antelope Valley
The Corsairs returned home this Friday, Sept. 28, looking to break through a victory drought of four tied games. Currently ranked #16 in the country, Santa Monica College (SMC) faced plenty of adversity throughout the match against the Antelope Valley (AV) Marauders, who took the lead twice within the first minutes of each half.
Marauders #12 Bianca Carrillo scored her first goal within the first minute. The Corsairs needed to wake up, focus and work on a quick reaction to overcome the rough start. The response came when #6 Antoinette Saldana struck a goal at 25:36, giving confidence to the team. Ten minutes later Saldana scored a vital free-kick putting the Corsairs in the lead. Saldana’s performance gave the team momentum and stabilized the match, but the Marauders did not flinch. #4 Evencia Welsh of AV, tied the game (2-2) in the last minute of the first half.
The Corsairs immediately found themselves in disadvantage as Marauders #4 Welsh returned to score a penalty kick within the first five minutes of the ball rolling. The frustration could be felt from the stands and the girls had to quickly recompose and control the game for the home side. Midfielder #13 Daily Ramos answered for Santa Monica and tied the match (3-3) in the 68th minute.
Fifteen minutes before the final whistle, tensions were high as the Marauders were given two corner kicks. The Corsairs managed to move the ball to the opposing side of the field, trying to break through Marauder defense in their penalty area. It was up to Sophomore defender Beverly Bourdet to find an opportunity and score the winning goal.
“We deserved this win, it was all team effort and I’m just glad I got to get the ball in.” stated Bourdet after her heroic game winning goal.
“This is an amazing win for us, due to the fact we had so many adverse situations against us. We were missing our leading scorer who was out on a red card, we had two other starters who were not able to play - We came back from behind two times in a game which is very unprecedented, you don’t see that a lot in soccer,” said Benditson. ”We have to keep getting stronger and learning from these challenges so that we can be as strong as we can be when the start of conference comes next week”
The nationally ranked team held position #8 earlier this season but is currently at #16 for the United Soccer Association for Junior College Division III Poll. “We don’t really talk about that stuff, if you wouldn't have told the girls they wouldn't even know," said Benditson when asked about the pressures from rankings. “We are a group who just loves to be together and you can tell they just really enjoy each other’s company, and everyone works extremely hard for each other on and off the field. They are a really good group of girls.”
Women’s Soccer’s next match is against Moorpark College on October 2, 3pm at Santa Monica’s Corsair Field.