On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Mt. SAC Women’s Soccer came ready to battle Long Beach City College Vikings in their last conference game, continuing their winning streak with a 3-1 win and a 9-0 undefeated season.
In the first half of the game, the team came out motivated as head coach Juan Sanchez had been preparing the women for an aggressive game. Within the first 35 minutes, SAC scored their first goal and obtained their first yellow card. This brought new energy to the game with SAC letting the Vikings have a taste of what’s to come.
Freshman midfielder Noely Rodriguez (15) scored the first goal by curving her shot into the upper left corner from a freekick she gained after a foul.
“I feel good! I practice my freekicks every day after practice so I was hopeful that they would pay off,” Rodriguez (15) said about her goal.
Sophomore left-back defender and team captain Tiana England (23) obtained a yellow card after slide-tackling a Long Beach midfielder while battling for the ball. England’s defense along with the rest of the back line stayed strong throughout the game as they made sure to keep the ball up the field.
“Our mindset going into the game was pretty strong, I think that reflected onto the field with how we played,” England (23) said about the game.
Going into the second half 1-0, SAC came out with a mission. Freshman midfielder and team captain Michelle Vazquez (10) dribbled in and out of Viking reach making a connection to sophomore midfielder Vivian Lopez (6), who took a shot on goal, sinking the ball into the right side of the net.
Vazquez (10) was making the second half very difficult for the Vikings. Utilizing other midfielders such as sophomore Brianna Bernal (12) and sophomore Yaritza Chavez (14) they were able to make some more moves. Vazquez (10) assisted another goal for Chavez (14) just a few minutes after the last goal making SAC up 3-0 in the second half.
Later in the second half, the Vikings were able to score their only goal of the game after a corner kick. Out of the four shots on goal, SAC sophomore goalkeeper Anai Olmedo (1) was able to save three.
“This isn’t our first team that has come with high energy and high intensity,” Vazquez (10) said. “Our preseason was very much like this sort of game so we kind of got used to it.”
After their battles in the preseason, the team was able to dial in which made them have their flawless win streak during the conference games. The first game of the SCC Tournament is against the El Camino Warriors on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6:30 p.m. at home. Let’s see if the SAC Women’s Soccer can keep up their intensity.
