Cerritos College women’s soccer delivered a decisive victory on Oct. 21, beating visiting Los Angeles City College with a score of 2-0.
Cerritos anticipated LACC’s tight nature and took steps to counter that in their own strategy.
During the first half, the game was tied 0-0 but the Falcons pushed through in the second half, scoring two goals during that half.
The Falcons shut down LACC but had two yellow cards from Victoria Adame and Aida Pineda while also having more fouls than LACC (Cerritos had 11, LACC had 7).
However, the Falcons’ soccer team was still able to keep LACC scoreless.
Victoria Ruiz, Frosh (No.1) Goalie saved all three shots on goals Los Angeles City shot and played kept the score clean.
The Falcons shot 10 times on goal, compared to LACC’s three, put the pressure on the defense of LACC and gave them the win.
Coach Tessa Troglia considered playing on the opposition’s weakness to be a major factor in the team’s eventual victory.
“The girls have really found their own identity. LA city played so compactly. We talked about stretching ourselves out in the midfield because we know they like to play tighter.” said Troglia
“We tried to wear out their center backs and that’s exactly what we ended up doing,” the soccer head coach said.
The Falcons did manage to overcome the fouls and yellow card through sheer force of determination, much to the gratification of midfielder Katie Alexander (No. 7).
“There were some poor calls made by the referee, we actually lost four points. But, overall, I can just say I’m proud of the work ethic, the winning second balls, and the challenging players,” said Alexander.
“Our motto is that when one of us scores, we all score.”
Even at their lowest moments, trust in one another and propelled players like defender Mary Morales (No.3) forward to victory.
“I think working together, working as a team, and always believing in each other got us the win today,” said Morales, “Defense really spoke out in the field. I was proud of the goalie, she really stayed calm and blocked those shots.”
Coach Troglia works to foster a classical sports-like environment for her team in a modern world that can seem filled with distractions.
“It’s definitely the environment we create, I’m very old school, winning is the byproduct of what we create,” she said, “It’s about treating each other with respect, the discipline and hard work that we put into preseason training.”
“We’re in a time where we need to do a lot of acclimating as coaches, we’re in an unprecedented time. Managing emotions and mental health and ensuring that each practice is a happy one.”
The women’s falcons will journey to Los Angles Harbor College for their next match on Nov. 1.
