Women’s Soccer Scores Slim Win Against LAVC
Missed shots and poor finishing results in a narrow conference win for women’s soccer.
Soccer season is coming to an end and the women’s soccer team is having a solid run so far. The Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs women’s team are now 11-5-2 on the season and 7-3-1 in the Western State Conference (WSC) South Division following their win against the Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) Monarchs on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The standings would indicate an easy win for the Corsairs as LAVC entered with a 2-8 WSC South record, but that wasn’t exactly the case.
LAVC kicked off the game and SMC quickly took possession of the ball, keeping it on the Monarchs side for most of the game. There were frequent runs at goal from the Corsairs throughout the game, but none would prove successful until the 35-minute mark. A run into the box resulted in a hand ball from the Monarchs and a penalty for the Corsairs. Captain and midfielder Sophie Doumitt was in charge of the penalty and successfully put it in the back of the net, giving the Corsairs a 1-0 lead.
Forward Emma Rierstam had frequent runs down the left sideline, but all those runs and shots would come up just short. Finally the runs paid off as Rierstam got a goal to close out the first half. Instead of running along the left side, Rierstam ran along the right sideline and cut inside past a defender and into the box. She took her shot and it went past the goalie without a block, putting the Corsairs up 2-0.
Though it was a close game, the Corsairs had control of it for the most part, up until the 81-minute mark. The Monarchs were finally able to slip past the defense and score on goalie Johana Ventureno. Besides the goal, Ventureno had a good game blocking every other shot that came her way. The Corsairs were able to hold off the Monarchs for the rest of the match and they won 2-1.
Doumitt reflected postgame on the win, acknowledging it wasn’t her or the team's best game. She didn’t reach the high standards she sets for herself and couldn’t connect on some passes that could’ve been key opportunities. In regards to the teams performance, Doumitt mentioned the chemistry being off a bit and some players not being able to play due to injuries being a cause for the close game. Doumitt was happy with the win nonetheless and is looking forward to the rest of the season and having fun with her team.
“I feel like this is a really unique team and we’re all really tightly knit, you know,” Doumitt said. “So I think honestly no matter what happens we always have fun and I think that’s super important cause soccer is supposed to be fun, but we’re gonna continue to push and keep our efforts high and our energies high.”
The women’s team only has three more games left in the season. Their next game is on Friday, Nov. 4 at 12:30 p.m. against Antelope Valley College, who the Corsairs lost to last time 6-0. The last two games will be home games. The first is on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m. against the Citrus College Owls, and the second and final game of the regular season will be on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 2:30 p.m. against College of the Canyons.
