Blitzing through the defense, El Camino College Warriors defender Ashley Perez netted an early lead, stunning the Moorpark College Raiders less than 30 seconds into the soccer match at El Camino College on Tuesday, Sept. 9.
Perez’s action set the tone for the Warriors to end the game with a final score of 3-1, taking their first win of the season at the ECC Soccer Field.
Warriors coach Anton Arrache said their strategy for the game was to utilize wider areas of the field.
“We had a lot of joy in [those areas] today,” Arrache said. “Services were not up to par, but the plan overall was a success.”
The Raiders responded with the tying goal, converting it after two forwards produced an effective combination, sneaking the ball past the Warriors’ defense and getting a shot off in the middle of the penalty area.
Entering the 35th minute of the first half, Warriors forward Evie Campbell, in conjunction with forward Leah Garcia, produced a 1-2 combination.
A perfectly slotted ball toward the inside post, via Garcia, set up Campbell to outpace the keeper and regain a 2-1 lead.
Campbell, the leading goal scorer for the Warriors, said a high press strategy was key to the team’s victory.
“We typically are a high press team, so I led up the center, and using our speed we were able to catch the defense off guard,” Campbell said.
An even showing between both teams had spectators eager to see what would happen in the second half. However, this half would lead toward textbook domination on the Warriors’ part, having 16 shots attempted during the half, with the Raiders only able to match a fourth of the attempts.
Warriors forward Citlalli Sarahi Sanchez delivered the decisive goal of the match nearing the 90 minute mark, with the crowd ecstatic after witnessing the play she made.
Sanchez effectively cut into the middle after dribbling past a defender from the right-most edge of the penalty area, setting her up for a perfect top bin goal with the left foot.
Sanchez broke her drought after numerous shots refused to enter the back of the net toward the game’s end.
“I was frustrated and hungry for the goal. I kept missing shot after shot,” Sanchez said. “So I used that aggression to fuel my performance and get the goal in. I simply kept telling myself to lock in and get the ball in there.”
Arrache said the Ventura College Pirates, the Warriors’ next opponent, is typically a “top” team, and the Warriors will aim to do what they do best.
“We’ve got to be good on the ball, be strong on defense, and create opportunities and be able to finish them.”
With a win in the bag and hunger for more, the Warriors (1-2-1) will be on the road to face Ventura College (0-2-2), on Friday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. in the Ventura College Sportsplex.
Editor’s note: Captions were updated on Thursday, Sept. 11.
![Players from the El Camino College men's soccer team surround and cheer on Melvyn Perez-Cortez, No. 13, after he scored a goal against Orange Coast College in the 48th minute of the match at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 26. “At halftime we had a speech with the coach and he said to ‘come out strong’ and that’s what we did and it benefited us a lot and [the game] went in our favor,” Perez-Cortez said. Rosemary Montalvo/The Union](https://eccunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ND5_9869-900x600.jpg)
