Hopes are high for the Pierce College women’s soccer team as they look to defend their Western State Conference (WSC) division champion status.
The Brahmas were easily the top team in their division with a commendable record of 15-5-3 (wins-loss-draw).
Not only did they end the season as WSC division champions but also advanced to the Southern California regional playoffs for the sixth year in a row and earning themselves the 5th seed in the process.
They finished the season and ranked an impressive 7th in the nation and 3rd throughout California. The only blip in their season was a playoff loss to rivals Santa Monica College 1-0 in the first round.
This coming season they’ll have to do it without former inspirational player Elia Petrosian, who set a new scoring record for the college while at Pierce.
All in all, she boasted a formidable 54 goals in her two years at Pierce.
Last season alone, she scored 23 goals and showed good creativity by slicing open opposition defenses with a respectable eight assists.
In 2005 and 2006 Petrosian was named as WSC player of the year, MVP all league and offensive player.
She also became a 2006 All-American player.
Currently, Petrosian hopes to go to USC.
Petrosian recalled her time with Pierce as “really exciting.”
“This last season wasn’t easy because it was basically a brand new team with only three players returning, including myself,” said Petrosian.
“It was really hard getting to know everyone and how they played,” she continued.
“The summer practice helped a lot and we [as a team] got better over time. We got way further than we ever thought,” she said.
Although Pierce has lost one of its most influential players on the pitch, Petrosian believes that the team is not in any trouble.
“This coming season, they had a lot of returners so I’m sure it’ll be a lot easier,” she said.
At the moment, Head Coach Adolfo Perez is still recruiting players and knows that this coming season will be a bit of a challenge.
“It is a challenge , because we basically have a new team every year and we start all over,” said Perez.
“I basically built this team from the ground up.
In the beginning, we had no uniforms and when we finally got them they were oversized and couldn’t fit most of the players. We had nothing. Not even a field,” he said.
Over the years, Pierce has grown into a formidable team and has developed some good players.
“We have had a lot of success stories with our players.
Many of them transfer to universities and continue to play soccer.
If it weren’t for Pierce, many of the players wouldn’t have that chance,” said Perez.
Last season there was a decent turnout of fan support for the team when they walked out onto the field.
Perez played tribute to the fan support in backing the team throughout the season.
“We have had tremendous support from Pierce and from our fans. We have four to five hundred fans attend our games. It’s amazing,” he said.
With the next season looming ever closer, Perez noted his ambitions for this coming fall.
“Our aim is at winning the state championship. If we win the conference again, it would be a tremendous feat,” he said.
Training for the Pierce women’s soccer team starts on July 9, while preseason officially starts in August.
“The training is hard. By Sept. 15, we generally know who made the team.
If someone wants to join after that date, they have to be extremely good.
Otherwise, we give priority to the people who have been there training the whole time,” he said.
With Perez at the helm, the Brahmas look to be as formidable as ever.
Pierce players in their last game of the Fall 2006 season, in which they lost 1-0 to Santa Monica College. (Melissa Keyes)