Mounties Improve Record While Facing Former Conference Leaders

Mt. SAC Women’s Soccer fights through a tough week

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Daniel Gonzalez

Freshman Kayla Allen drives the ball downfield past defenders to set up a new drive for the Mounties.

Mt. SAC Women’s Soccer were in the middle of a 3-2 season before improving their record this week. Looking to perch themselves at the top of the South Coast Conference, the team has set a high bar from their last season in 2019. They had finished fourth in the conference behind only Long Beach, Cerritos, and Rio Hondo then and are now looking in prime shape for playoffs.

This week the Mounties took on two teams: the Citrus College Owls and the San Bernardino Valley College Wolverines. These tough competitors were both at the top of their respective conferences back in 2019, and these matchups were going to prove if the Mounties were ready to face their rivals later this season.

Away against the Citrus College Owls, they faced a team that had just come off of a 2-0 win against Grossmont College, but the Mounties were not going to be intimidated by their cross-valley rival.

The game started out pretty slow, as it took a minute for the Mounties to get a feel for their opponent. Then 25 minutes in, the Mounties scored the first goal of the game from Karissa Vela off of an assist from Kayla Allen. The Mounties drew first blood, and this looked to be a good sign early on. As the first half continued, Citrus aggressively tried to respond, but came up short with three missed shots on goal.

As the second half began, the Mounties were ready to continue fighting. They scored their second goal of the night within the first ten minutes of the half. This time coming from Jacquelynn Coronado with Karrisa Vela assisting.

Another goal by Kaylee Gutierrez with an assist from Deanna Rojas at the 70 minute mark put the score at 3-0. Citrus scrambled to fight back and mustered up their only goal of the night 83 minutes in. This would not phase the Mounties as they would score their final goal, by Kayla Allen, five minutes later to close out the game. The Mounties’ dominance over Citrus started the week with a 4-1 win.

The second game of the week was a whole different story.

At home in front of fans and family, the Mounties faced off against the San Bernardino Valley College Wolverines in a competitive nailbiter. Numerous shots on goal followed as the Mounties kept on trying to chip at San Bernardino’s defense. Yet the first half ultimately became a 0-0 defensive stalemate as both teams struggled to score.

The second half is where both teams became aggressive. This newfound aggression led to the Wolverines getting the first goal of the game, which shocked the Mounties who struggled to find a way to respond.

The Mounties put together a solid possession in the last five minutes of the game when Deanna Rojas found a small crack in the Wolverines defense to score Mt. SAC’s only goal of the game. Rojas had just saved the team from a loss with very little time left on the clock. Extra time would be added, but the score would stay at a 1-1 stalemate, with the Mounties avoiding defeat.

With a record of 4-2-1, the Mt. SAC Women’s Soccer Team will be facing Golden West College on Sept. 22.