Adrian Herrera/ Round Up News
Holding its opponent to another scoreless game, Pierce College womens soccer team shut out rival Santa Monica College, 4-0, in a convincing victory at Santa Monica on Friday.
“It’s incredible, we reached our potential today, ands it very hard as a coach to even accept that,” said Pierce Head Coach Adolfo Perez.
From the 3:00 pm starting time until the whistle blew to end the game the Brahmas were in complete control playing aggressive defense, controlling possession time, and attacking on the offensive side.
“We played phenomenal, this is how we should have been playing the whole season,” said Assistant Coach Gil Aguirre, “We were able to get a good start and finished strong,” (Dan: I’m pretty sure its ‘Aguirre’ and not ‘Aguilar’ but correct me if I am wrong)
Midfielder Stephanie Cubias, last years leading scorer, scored her first goal of the season early in the second half extending the Brahmas lead to 3-0.
“Finally,” said Cubias, when asked about scoring her first goal of the season. “It was really exciting game, we were pumped for it, this is the game we always look forward to the entire season because they are our rivals, and it’s always a tough game,” she added.
The Brahmas took control of the game early on with a goal by forward Erica Vangsness in the 24 minute and in the 37 minute Vangsness struck again with her second goal of the game giving Pierce a commanding 2-0 lead going into halftime.
“That was an amazing game, I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Said Vangsness when asked about her two goals.
The Brahmas came out in the second half with even more intensity and firepower with Cubias scoring a goal just five minutes into the second half and ten minutes later in the 55 minutes forward Megan Quinn scored another goal giving the Brahmas a 4-0 lead.
“Santa Monica tired out,” said Perez, “What helped us though is that we scored and we put the pressure on them, then it becomes hard to play under pressure, it feels good to play this well here, its exciting.”
The Brahmas cruised through the second half of the game playing very poised and not allowing SMC to do anything on offense.
“We dominated the second half,” said Vagsness “this is how we should be playing all the time, we have the confidence, hopefully we keep doing it.”
It wasn’t just the Brahmas offense that was key in their victory, but their staggering defense that out hustled and out played SMC all game long.
“Our defense played awesome, both keepers played big along with the defense,” added Perez after the game.
Santa Monica Head Coach Aaron Benditson, a former player of Perez, was prepared for the game, but not prepared for the outcome.
“We didn’t play well,” said Benditson. “Pierce played very strong with a lot of energy, effort and intensity, they are a very competitive team and they showed up today.”
Forward Michelle Oaks suffered a minor ankle injury in the 27 minute causing her to miss the rest of the game.
“Michelle rolled her ankle and sat out the rest of the game,” Aguirre said.
Pierce, now 8-1-1, will host Mission College on Tuesday at home and will play Bakersfield on Friday at Bakersfield. Both games starting at 4:00 pm.
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