For the past two games there didn’t seem to be a pulse existent in the Pierce College women’s soccer team which had just lost two in a row and outscored 12-0 in those games.
It looked to be more of the game for the Brahmas until a chippy second half. After Pierce defender Alexis Mendias got sent off with a red card for punching Vikings defender Rylee Anderson the Brahmas finally awoke from their slumber and started to connect. Pierce forward Paige Wolny would score her fifth goal of the year on a penalty kick in the 71st minute and the Brahmas took a much needed 1-1 tie against the Vikings to end their two game losing streak.
“Pierce played a great in the second half,” Long Beach City College head coach Sean Reeves said. “Despite being a man down the Brahmas upped the pressure and our girls got rattled. Pierce started making better passes and taking shots. All the credit in the world to Pierce for how they played today.”
For Pierce head coach Adolfo Perez, who made his season coaching debut after serving a four game suspension, thought that after Mendias’s red card his team responded well.
“When you come in against a program like this and then all of a sudden have the odds be against you, that’s tough,” Perez said. “But the play ignited us and we needed something to set the tone. Afterwards the girls played tremendously and I think that was the first time I’d seen the team play the kind of level of soccer I know they are capable of.”
The altercation between Mendias and Anderson stemmed from the beginning of the second half with both players seemingly getting tangled in each other. After several minutes of jostling Anderson threw an elbow and Mendias responded with a left jab to the chest forcing the ejection. Afterwards Mendias admitted her mistake.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did,” Mendias said. “It was a big part of the game and I could have really hurt my team.”
But with a man down however it looked like the Brahmas were playing with a man up as the energy picked up and the scoring opportunities began to present themselves. It was in the 71st minute that Wolny would eventually strike on a fast break. Driving to the right of the field she drew defenders into the box where she was slide tackled hard and awarded a penalty kick.
“I just get myself in the postion to create contact and draw fouls,” Wolny said after the game who leads the team with five goals on the season. “You just got to stay patient and read what the opposing team and the refs are giving to you. I’m the kind of player that has the ability to draw fouls and then you do your best with the opportunity given to you.”
After Wolny’s goal the Brahmas would get a mix of scoring opportunities coming from freshman forward Eliza Midkiff and stiffling defense from sophomore defender Stefany Soto. The Vikings had opportunities to score late but Pierce sophomore goalie would thwart the attempts including a full extension save off of her finger tips in the 86th minute to preserve the tie.
Now the Brahmas get to go back home where they will play host to LA Valley College on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
“We had to make some changes and puts some players in new positions but I think we have found ourselves and how we want to play,” Perez said. “Now we get to go home against LA Valley and we are going to score a lot of goals.”