Starting off with aggressive offensive tactics that continued throughout the game, the soccer team took the win against the Taft Cougars on Tuesday Oct. 4.
The team played its best game of the season, winning with a score of 4-1.
The Brahmas controlled the tempo of the game with aggressive plays that head coach Adolfo Perez said were all part of the plan going in.
“It was awesome to see because they played to their full potential today,” Perez said.
The intensity on the field led to injuries on both teams, a nerve-wracking situation for the Brahmas who are already down three key players this season due to injuries.
Strong offensive plays were made by several team members including left midfielder Ashley Oviedo who scored two quick goals for Pierce.
The first goal of the game was made by midfielder Sara Hernandez on a penalty kick in the eighth minute, followed two minutes later by an own goal on Taft in the tenth minute. The own goal was given to Oviedo because she was the last to touch the ball.
One minute before halftime, the Cougars scored, leaving the Brahmas with a 2-1 lead.
In the second half, forward Leslie Ramirez scored a third goal for the Brahmas at the 55 minute mark.
With only two minutes remaining, Oviedo locked in her second goal to close out the game.
Oviedo said that at the beginning of the semester the players were missing the team chemistry they needed to win.
“We were a new team with a bunch of new freshmen so it was hard to build that type of connection,” Oviedo said.
After getting more comfortable with one another and receiving encouragement from coach Perez in the form of inspirational talks, the team began to grow much closer and as a result, play better as a team.
“The girls are finally understanding how to play with each other and they are getting better every day. They’re more in sync and I think what’s helping is that everyone is participating,” Perez said.
Midfielder Adriana Sosa has also noticed the positive affect that both bonding and outside pressure have had on the group.
“I think we’ve started connecting more as a team. We’ve started playing with each other really well and realized that we need to step up because we are part of a winning program and we need to keep up its reputation,” Sosa said.
Only one more non-conference game remains and it will be against Oxnard on Friday. The conference opener will be on the following week on Tuesday against Santa Monica.
