The women’s soccer team matched up against the Sierra College Wolverines on Tuesday, ending in a nail-biting 1-1 draw.
The Hawks went into Tuesday’s contest with a 2-1-0 conference record and a 7-4-1 overall record. Possession was a key piece of Tuesday’s game plan, said head coach Cesar Plasencia.
“We tried to make sure that we controlled the game by controlling the ball,” Plasencia said. “I thought we did that for pretty much most of the game, especially in the first half.”
Tone setting was vital for the Hawks to counter Sierra’s physical play, said sophomore goalkeeper Mellanie Chernay.
“We knew Sierra was gonna be a tough, competitive and physical team,” Chernay said. “So we had to not only match the energy, but set the pace first.”
The first goal of the match came off the head of freshman midfielder and wing Mia Perez in the 44th minute off of a free kick from sophomore midfielder Brenda Jimenez.
“We had been working in practice about being first to the ball and being aggressive on our head-ins,” Perez said. “I saw the first post open, and I just hit it there.”
Defensively, the Hawks allowed 14 shots. Scoring first helps settle into matches and calm the nerves down, Chernay said.
“It just sets the tone and makes me calm down a little bit,” Chernay said. “It’s more of ‘Okay, we’re good to go. Now, let’s start to calm down, play our game and just connect more.’”
The equalizing point was scored by Sierra’s Taylor Rapiz in the 69th minute. The game plan for the Hawks stayed the same, Plasencia said.
“I thought we were deserving of the up one at that point because of the way the game was flowing, and our ability to keep the ball for large portions of the time,” Plasencia said. “We had a few chances to go up. Unfortunately, we made a couple mistakes that gave up the tying goal.”
Closing out the first half with a goal helped carry momentum into the second half, Perez said.
“We all celebrated together,” Perez said. “We had a really good first half, so it was a good way to end it.”
The Hawks stayed resilient following an injury to captain and center back Nichole Morris. Morris was carted off the field in the 23rd minute.
The draw pushed the Hawks to 7-4-2 overall and 2-1-1 in conference play, but they faced off against the American River College Beavers at home on Friday and won 5-2, setting them up at 8-4-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play.
“We just need to keep getting better,” Plasencia said. “We have a formula that we believe in and trust, and were just trying to sharpen that a little quicker.”