Frustration, lack of confidence, and not enough energy coming from the Warriors’ offense this season has resulted in three wins, six losses, and four ties.

The women’s soccer team (2-2-2 in conference) dropped game six of the conference to undefeated Cerritos College (6-0) with a final score of 4-1.

Within seven minutes of the start of the first half, the Falcons were on the scoreboard with a goal from forward Amber Whitmore, the assist coming from forward Jamie Peters.

Minutes later, at the 21-minute mark, the Warriors’ defense recovered the ball after a shot from the Falcons’ offense, but made a mistake that led to Cerritos scoring another goal. Defenders lost control of the ball in the box, and Falcon forward Carolina Jaramillo recovered possession and was able to execute it past the net.

“We played well honestly,” Coach John Britton said. “Even without our key player (defender) Ashley Mercado. Our defense didn’t do that bad. Cerritos is a great team in both offense and defense. We played hard and overall not every one gave up.”

In the first half of the game, the Falcons controlled the ball, tempo, and offense.

In the 36th minute, midfielder Graciela Lopez gave Cerritos a 3-0 lead from a pass by teammate defender Jackie Garcia. By that point, the Warriors’ confidence went downhill.

“Our offense missed a few shots early in the game,” Cerritos coach Ruben Gonzalez said. “We didn’t execute every position like we wanted to, but we still got the W. We held off pretty good, El Camino is a tough opponent, they played hard today. They are a better team than last year’s.”

In the first half alone, Cerritos led EC with shots on target, recording 11 attempts over EC’s five.

The Warriors’ defense is key for the team to have a positive game. Goalkeeper Olivia Hover plays every game with a passion; in today’s game, she was frustrated with her teammates and the calls by officials. In both halves combined, Hover finished with five saves and gave up a penalty kick goal in the 69th minute of the game.

The Falcon offense missed a penalty kick in the 55th minute after forward Jaramillo fired and hit the right post. Seven minutes later, Warrior defender Emily Cano committed a foul, received her second yellow card (ejected from game) and gave Cerritos another penalty kick. Falcon forward Victoria Hernandez was awarded the free kick and earned the fourth and final goal for her team.

At that point most of the players’ confidence for the Warriors was crushed, as heads were down and the offense kept struggling.

In the last minute of the game, freshman midfielder Miranda Ramirez dribbled through the defense, created her own shot, and fired away past the Falcon keeper to put the Warriors on the scoreboard.

“I’m proud of my team honestly,” sophomore defender and captain, Ashley Mercado, said. “Cerritos is a great team and we played good, even with 10 players. We kept up. It sucks that I wasn’t able to play due to (my) injury against L.A. Harbor, but I’ll be back soon (3-4 weeks) according to my doctor.”

“We could have played better defensively,” midfielder Rocio Najero said. “Not having Ashley on the field is a huge loss for us since our defense is key to victory. This game will help us prepare for our upcoming game this Tuesday at Mt. San Antonio.”

The Warriors’ next game is away at Mt. San Antonio on Tuesday at 4 p.m. They will then return home Friday to play El Camino-Compton Center at 4 p.m.

For more info on stats and the upcoming schedule, click here.