Soccer - SMC vs. LA Valley

The Lady Corsairs soccer team finished the game in cruise control against the Los Angeles Valley Monarchs with a resounding 5-0 victory last Friday afternoon.

SMC came out kicking from the first whistle, and it wasn't long before they etched their first tally on the score sheet. In only the second minute of the game freshman Gabriella

Rodriguez scored off a throw-in that was slotted past a helpless keeper.

They were still celebrating on the bench when SMC scored again, this time off of a lovely through pass that landed at sophomore sensation Mercy Tejada's feet for her to kick it past the goalie and make it 2-0.

It was all SMC during the first half and Tejada drew some "ole's" from the crowd after she dribbled and cut the same helpless defender twice before chipping the ball over the goalie and into the side netting.

"Great goal by a great player," said Head Coach Aaron Benditson.

The second half was similar to the first in terms of SMC's ability to penetrate the defense of the Monarchs.

However, the overshadowed defense of the Lady Corsairs stood out, as L.A. Valley hardly ever made it past the midfield line.

Benditson made it quite clear that defense is vital to the team's chances of winning. "Our stress is on our defense. If we are sound defensively we will always be in games and able to compete for a positive result," he said.

Freshman Olivia Patterson and sophomore Lauren Bustamente capped off the win with some late second-half scores, on coming off great cross by freshman Sarah Barrington to make it 5-0.

The win was yet another positive result for SMC who continue to make noise in the opening stages of a stellar season. Look for them to be in top form again in their next match against the team that they play in their next game this Friday at 2 p.m.