El Camino women’s soccer team battled through a defeat 4-0 at home against the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Through the heat, EC’s formation was more defensive, as they stayed back protecting their goal.

At the start of the game, Rio Hondo went in full force as they controlled the ball in EC’s half of the field.

Within 5 minutes, the Roadrunner’s defensive player, Ruby Magallon (No.23), scored the first goal, giving Rio Hondo a 1-0 lead over EC.

Though the Roadrunners found a breakthrough, the Warriors did not give up and held their ground defensively.

With communication on the defensive line led by EC’s Izabel Gutierrez (No. 8), the defense was controlling more of the ball and did not let another goal pass until the end of the half.

“Shield, shield! Behind you. You got someone behind you,” Gutierrez said. “Good job,” she said, encouraging her teammates.

Though EC was communicating more, in the 37th minute, the Roadrunner’s forward, Flor Suarez (No.5) found a breakthrough and scored putting Rio Hondo up, 2-0.

EC fought through it, as they found two breakthroughs in the last two minutes of the first half.

Robin Riggs (No.3) and Nalleli Mendoza (No.11) both shot at Rio Hondo’s goalkeeper, Izella Delgadillo (No.00) however, both were saved.

As the first half came to an end, EC’s head coach John Britton commented on EC’s effort in the first half as the Roadrunners were in the lead 2-0.

“The first half we showed a lot of improvement from Friday’s game,” Britton said. “They are sticking to their task better.”

In the second half, EC continued to play defensively as they controlled their half of the field.

The Warriors had more control with the ball, however, in the 58th minute, Flor Suarez scored her second goal of the game, helping Rio Hondo stay in the lead, 3-0.

As the game progressed, both teams started to get restless and more aggressive.

Rio Hondo had five fouls against them in the second half, and EC had two.

EC’s last foul on them helped Rio Hondo make their last goal from forward, Nicole Chavez (No.2) in the 89th minute, ending the game with a 4-0 victory for the Roadrunners.

EC’s overall performance could’ve been better, said EC defender, Kimberly Bernal (No.7).

“We could’ve done better as a team, communicate more,” Bernal said. “We’ve had more challenging teams before, I feel like we’ve done better in past games and this game was just not our day. The effort was there, but it was not at our 100 percent.”

This game ended in a loss for the EC women’s soccer team.

Their next game will be Friday, Oct. 19, at Mt. San Antonio College. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.