Saddleback soccer blanks San Diego City
In a fairly one-sided game, Saddleback’s women’s soccer took a 5-0 victory over San Diego City College in the Gauchos’ season and home opener August 29.
Saddleback established its dominance early, setting an aggressive pace and making sure to let SDCC know whose field they were on.
“We knew our opponents only had 13 players, meaning they only had two subs, and we were on a big field, so we wanted to make them run as much as possible to wear them down,” said Gauchos head coach Brandy Craig.
Gauchos Ashley Novak drew first blood, scoring in the 13th minute of the first half with an assist from Taylor Knight; Novak would follow it up four minutes later with another goal, this time with an assist by Jen Saldivar.
Saddleback would continue to push its fast pace, pressuring its opponent into making mistakes while continuing to show an amazing ability to switch the field up and great ball control, which helped continue to tire an already worn out Knights squad.
The final goal of the half came at the 25th minute by Jennifer Smith assisted by Taylor Knight.
The second half began with the Gauchos starting to show a little wear and tear from the fast pace, as SDCC was finally able to start an offensive attack. But the attack was too late, as the Knights had already been run ragged by Saddleback’s utilization of the full size of the field.
The Gauchos would bring back and continue the furious pace and consistent pressure, leading to two final goals in the closing minutes, the first coming from Ashlyann Rodriguez with an assist from Casie Dilbeck at the 85th minute, and the final goal coming off a corner kick by Morgan Winegar in the 88th minute; the kick by Winegar dropped into a pack of girls, and in a flurry of kicks, the ball stumbled into the goal.
The goal was credited to Saddleback’s Maile Gannon with Winegar getting the assist.
The Gauchos will next host Ventura College on Thursday, Sept. 6 down at the Rancho Capistrano Fields. The game kicks off at 3 p.m.