The season for the women’s soccer team has begun and it was not an easy start.
The team’s season started out against No.1 ranked Long Beach City College and then No. 3 Mt. San Antonio College. Both were hurdles the women could not quite jump.
But the women are not discouraged one bit as they prepare to face East Los Angeles College tomorrow here at Murdock Stadium at 4 p.m.
The Warriors lost 4-1 in their regular season opener on Sept. 30 against the Mt. San Antonio Mounties.
Samira Yakubu scored their only goal with Shawna Alyea having the assist.
In Tuesday’s game against the Long Beach City Vikings, the women played aggressively but could not pull out the victory, losing 3-0.
Although it was another loss, the women were not too disappointed about their performance against the No. 1 ranked team.
“I thought everyone did well. We definitely played our hardest and that’s what counts,” freshman right defender Connie Price said. “We just mainly need to move around, space more, and cover each other; it’s all about more communication, everyone being defensive, and being the first to the ball.”
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Rodin had a great game with eight saves bringing her season total to 22. She has also scored six goals, making her one of the Warriors’ star players this year.
“This game was supposed to be a key game because (Long Beach) is one of the toughest teams in our league,” Rodin said. “I tried not to let it get to my head and I played my hardest the whole game. You just have to go out there and do your best and play with what you have.”
What the team is really lacking is a healthy squad. Despite having more than ten of its players injured, the women have still been pulling through and utilizing the players that they do have.
“We have a lot of players down right now, but we brought it,” Rodin said.
“Even though it was a loss, I think we still played well as a team and we developed in a lot of different aspects of the game.”
Despite the loss to Long Beach, the women are still confident. Even coach John Britton is not disheartened and sees this as positive learning experience.
“Even though we lost the last two games, we can take a lot out of them because (Long Beach and Mt. San Antonio) are ranked, and we really competed,” Britton said. “They really didn’t score a quality goal against us and as a team we kept battling for the whole ninety minutes.”
Britton also believes that tomorrow’s game against the East Los Angeles Huskies will be an easy one.
“We can compete at the top based on how we played these last two games,” Britton said.
