Tying East L.A. 0-0 has made the women’s soccer teams hopes of making the playoffs even harder to obtain, starting to pattern last seasons let down.
Another 1-1 tie with Cerritos on Tuesday has slowed the women’s playoff run even more as it went on a five game winless streak.
“We controlled the game, we had a huge lead in ball possession, but we could not take advantage of the opportunities we were given,” coach Jon Britton said.
Tying four of their last five games, EC will need to beat Mt. San Antonio College, which ranks high in the state. Also, they have the two teams coming to Murdock Stadium alleviating some of the pressure to win.
“The tie effects our playoff chances, it has slimmed our playoff hopes,” Britton said.
Sticking in fourth place in conference, the Warriors will have chances on the road to make up for the most ties in conference, going to LA Harbor College then to Pasadena City College, both of which have worse records.
They play at Harbor on Friday and Tuesday travel to Pasadena before finishing conference play at home against Mt. SAC.
“I am upset that we tied, hoping we would win. Now it is going to be harder to make the playoffs,” sophomore midfielder Gabby Godines said.
Staving off a tie and a blowout, the Warriors had last Tuesday off and were able to rest some of the nagging injuries, yet when they went to East L.A. they played short of their full roster, only taking thirteen players.
“Our midfield fell apart with the passing, our forwards got tired when we gave them long balls,” defenseman Kelly Barnard said. “The defense was lacking communication in the first half.”
With another tie, making it eight this season overall and the fifth in conference, EC will mathematically need to win at least two of their three remaining games of the regular season if they expect to go to the postseason.
“We came out hard and kept up the intensity. We knew they would come out hard and we stuck with them,” freshman midfielder Alicia Kolter said.
The intense effort had only one let down through the course of the game and Cerritos took advantage, scoring the tying goal midway through the second half.
“We stopped the other team and the forwards did not pass, they were being ballhogs,” sophomore defenseman Jennifer Gonzales said.
When the intensity and consistency on the offensive end meets the same level of commitment found on the defensive end, that balance will allow the Warriors to win games instead of earning a tie.
“If we get it together as a team we will make the playoffs,” Gonzales said.
Facing the fact that they may not make the playoffs this season, many still remain hopeful and vigilant in their efforts to improve as a team.
“We have to do well against all the remaining games otherwise we put our fate in the hands of the other teams to win or lose,” freshman Alicia Kolter said.