Santa Monica Women's Soccer catches up last minute with a winning goal
The Santa Monica College (SMC) women’s soccer team Corsairs faced off against West Los Angeles (L.A.) College Wildcats on Tuesday, Sept. 30 at Corsair stadium. Strong defense, strategic passing, and mistakes were made from both teams throughout the matchup. Despite the heat waves and strong winds, the Corsairs were able to keep their guard up against the Wildcats. The finishing score of the match ended at 2-1.
In the beginning, the Corsairs’ offense managed to apply as much pressure as they could to the opposing team. Sophomore midfielder Lyric Gomez-Muniz, who is usually in charge of making plays, bypassed West L.A’s defensive players and successfully scored the first goal of the game within five minutes.
West L.A., with two current wins this season, also provided offensive support. On the other hand, in the midst of offensive plays, the Wildcat’s defender Ella Lucas received a yellow card for rough play
During the second half, West L.A. managed to successfully score their first goal. SMC goalkeeper Jacinda Rodriguez attempted to pass the ball within the SMC penalty area to her teammates. Despite this, Arlene Plata, a defensive player from West L.A., came in and was able to score and tie the game.
“They’ve gotten a lot tougher,” said SMC assistant coach Marvin Lemus. “College soccer is tough and you need to be very physical, and we definitely implanted that within them in the summer”.
While players from both teams were able to get inside their opponents penalty box, Corsairs goalie Rodriguez, began strategically coming out of the penalty box at times in order to intercept the ball from West L.A. forwards.
Within the last 30 minutes of the game, all of West L.A. had gathered within the SMC penalty box. After the whistle was blown by the referee to initiate, SMC wing player Kimberly Ramos assisted Marlene Garcia with a corner kick to score the final goal of the game.
“I think we did really good pressuring this team and it feels good to have a win at our home,” said Corsair defender Marlene Garcia. “Taking a loss here would be really bad, so I think we did really good overall.” The Corsairs were able to achieve another win this semester, with this being their ninth game of the season. The Corsairs currently have nine more games remaining, and have the conference just around the corner.
Overall, the Corsairs were able to accomplish a win for SMC, and have now added one more point into their roster. Currently, their new overall record holds six wins, two ties and four losses. For more information regarding SMC’s soccer games and athletics, visit SMC’s athletics website at https://www.smccorsairs.com/sports/wsoc/index