2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Monarchs Lose to Condors; Fall to 2-5 on Year
Valley women's soccer team presents valiant effort against Oxnard, but falls short as Condors dominate momentum.
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 9/28/05 Section: Sports
The Lady Monarchs fell to the Oxnard Lady Condors 4-3 in an intense match-up Friday after defeating the San Diego City College Knights with the same score earlier in the week.
The game featured heated exchanges, numerous fouls and both benches barking orders at teammates and officials throughout the game.
"[Soccer] is a physical game and sometimes it can be used as strategy," said Valley Head Coach Erik Archila. "Girls know that we're good and try to get [us] to lose our heads. The good thing is that we didn't lose them today."
The Condors jumped to an early 2-0 lead as freshmen Anne Bordwell and Charlene Rodriguez each scored first-half goals.
Lady Monarch sophomore Jessie Paul cut the lead by half as she raced down and scored on a high kick midway in the first half.
Both Valley and Oxnard struggled for momentum before Valley freshman Michelle Escamilla scored on a free kick and tied the game at 2.
Rodriguez struck again for the Condors as she ran down the field and scored to retake the lead 3-2, as the freshman simply outraced numerous Lady Monarch players to score.
Taking a 3-2 lead into halftime Oxnard struck first in the second half as Rodriguez completed the hat-trick with her third goal of the game in the start of the second half.
"Oxnard College came out with an excellent player in [Rodriguez]," said Archila.
"It's the best I've seen since I've been coaching at the community college level ... She should be playing in a Division-1 program," Archila added.
Valley scored a late goal by Escamilla to cut the lead 4-3 but was unable to tie the game.
Both the Lady Monarchs and Condors fought to get the ball throughout the second half as fouls were called on both sides and heated words were exchanged.
"Today's game was pretty hard," said Escamilla. "It was tough for us to score ... and it was a good challenge for us."
"The girls wanted to win that game," said injured team captain Jenny Portillo. "It's our house, so we wanted to win."
Even with the slow 2-5 start, Archila remains optimistic for the remainder of the season as the team will begin league play next week.
"We're improving a lot, and it might not look like it," Archila said.
"We've played the toughest teams first. We have a lot of injuries but once we have them back, we'll make a run to be competitive with the teams in our conference."
Valley will play its first division game against the Allan Hancock Bulldogs, Tuesday Sept. 27, in Santa Maria at 4 p.m.
The game featured heated exchanges, numerous fouls and both benches barking orders at teammates and officials throughout the game.
 TRIPPING - Lady Monarch Michelle Escamilla is struggling with Oxnard freshman Myra Mendez to take control of the ball in Saturday´s 4-3 against the Oxnard Condors. |
"[Soccer] is a physical game and sometimes it can be used as strategy," said Valley Head Coach Erik Archila. "Girls know that we're good and try to get [us] to lose our heads. The good thing is that we didn't lose them today."
The Condors jumped to an early 2-0 lead as freshmen Anne Bordwell and Charlene Rodriguez each scored first-half goals.
Lady Monarch sophomore Jessie Paul cut the lead by half as she raced down and scored on a high kick midway in the first half.
Both Valley and Oxnard struggled for momentum before Valley freshman Michelle Escamilla scored on a free kick and tied the game at 2.
Rodriguez struck again for the Condors as she ran down the field and scored to retake the lead 3-2, as the freshman simply outraced numerous Lady Monarch players to score.
Taking a 3-2 lead into halftime Oxnard struck first in the second half as Rodriguez completed the hat-trick with her third goal of the game in the start of the second half.
"Oxnard College came out with an excellent player in [Rodriguez]," said Archila.
"It's the best I've seen since I've been coaching at the community college level ... She should be playing in a Division-1 program," Archila added.
Valley scored a late goal by Escamilla to cut the lead 4-3 but was unable to tie the game.
Both the Lady Monarchs and Condors fought to get the ball throughout the second half as fouls were called on both sides and heated words were exchanged.
"Today's game was pretty hard," said Escamilla. "It was tough for us to score ... and it was a good challenge for us."
"The girls wanted to win that game," said injured team captain Jenny Portillo. "It's our house, so we wanted to win."
Even with the slow 2-5 start, Archila remains optimistic for the remainder of the season as the team will begin league play next week.
"We're improving a lot, and it might not look like it," Archila said.
"We've played the toughest teams first. We have a lot of injuries but once we have them back, we'll make a run to be competitive with the teams in our conference."
Valley will play its first division game against the Allan Hancock Bulldogs, Tuesday Sept. 27, in Santa Maria at 4 p.m.
