The women’s soccer team delivered a decisive 5-2 home victory against the American River College Beavers on Friday.
The Hawks got off to an early start, scoring back-to-back goals in the first 10 minutes of the match.
“We just went in with the mentality that we had to stay prepared for the next play,” said freshman forward Mia Perez. “We made sure our energy didn’t drop, no matter what the score was.”
After the two quick goals, possession became more divided, giving the Hawks fewer opportunities to score.
Their next goal wouldn’t come until the second half, when sophomore forward Angelina Ortiz headed in her first goal of the game. Ortiz added another nine minutes later, finishing the match with two goals and two assists.
“We had a really good game last game and just wanted to keep our momentum from that and put it into this game,” Ortiz said.
The Hawks took every chance they had to give their offense an opportunity to cross the ball into the middle, resulting in multiple goals coming from headers.
The team’s lead faced its biggest threat in the middle of the second half when the Beavers added two goals three minutes apart, making the score 4-2.
“They scored two, and we kind of lost momentum there for a second,” Ortiz said. “So we kind of learned the game can change really fast and we can easily get down if we let ourselves stop.”
Despite the setback, the Hawks were able to hold onto their lead, eventually adding another goal in the 87th minute off a knock from freshman forward Sadie Stroll for her second goal of the game.
Tensions between both teams rose steadily throughout the match, leading to increasingly physical play.
“We just wanted to keep making sure everyone was uncomfortable defensively and make sure we had good energy offensively,” Perez said.
By the final whistle, four yellow cards had been handed out, two to each team, with all of them coming in the second half.
The first two cards came on plays that ended in heavy collisions, while the final two were given in the 90th minute when Hawks freshman midfielder Emily Bailey and Beavers forward Grace Vojkufka got into a verbal altercation.
The Hawks remain undefeated at home this season, and after a draw with Santa Rosa on Tuesday, stand with an overall record of 8-4-3. Their next match is on Friday at home against Modesto Junior College.