The Mesa College women’s soccer team wrapped up the regular season and hosted the Southwestern Jaguars under the Friday night lights. Fans from both schools were in attendance, cheering on their squads and favorite players.
The Southwestern team came into the match with a 4-game winning streak, and were looking to make it a fifth to end the regular season. The Olympians were coming off a high scoring game vs. Palomar in which they won 5-3. Unfortunately 3 losses and a tie in the final six games is not the way they had hoped to run down the stretch. The last time these two teams met it didn’t end well for the Mesa Olympian team who failed to score a goal and lost the match 4-0.
Regardless of the season’s overall records Mesa was ready for the challenge and ready to compete against Southwestern. The Jaguars struck first, when Yulitza Castorena scored a goal at the 11.25 mark. That goal was assisted by Caitlyn Titchenal. Mesa wasn’t deterred by this and fought hard to even the scoreboard. That is just what happened when Charlotte Talia snuck in a goal past the Southwestern goalie, who was having a tremendous half. Their lead was short-lived, when a collision in the goalie box by a Mesa defender and the goalie Anjolie Colon resulted in an open goal walk-in score by Yulitza Castorena for the Southwestern team.
The women’s soccer team showed incredible determination as they battled in the second half. A series of corner kicks and break-aways tested the Southwestern goalie Iliana Villegas who had 7 saves by the match’s end. One particularly amazing save by a penalty kick attempted by Mesa’s Reese Palmer was all but in except for the diving one hand block by Villegas. This wouldn’t stop the Olympians who found the equalizer with only 13 minutes left in the game. A ricocheted shot launched from deep landed right in the box, a shot. Blocked. Another one saved, but the ball was not corralled by the Villegas and at last Mesa had the goal they needed. Isabella Gonzalez was in the right place at the right time and sunk the ball much to the delight of the Mesa team.
Tensions were high as the final minutes counted down in this highly contested battle between these two teams. Katalina Propst from the Mesa team showed her speed and nifty footwork as she tried to find the breakaway pass to lift themselves out of the 2-2 tie. Unfortunately it was the Southwestern team who would get the 88th minute score by Castorena, her 2nd of the night. The defense mishandled a pass and allowed Castorena to all but seal the victory. Defense in the back half and turnovers are areas the Mesa team will look to improve moving into next year’s season.
The Women’s soccer team finished 4th in the Pacific Coast conference with a record of 7-4-3. Their overall record finished over .500 with a 9-7-3 record.
