The Fresno City College women’s soccer team looked to improve their current win streak to six games after opening the season with a loss to No. 1 ranked Santiago Canyon.
American River had other ideas however as they traveled to Fresno and knocked off the Rams 2-0 on Sept. 17.
“We’re not looking to avenge what happened last season,” said FCC women’s head coach Oliver Germond, referring to the 1-0 loss the Rams suffered at the hands of the Beavers in last year’s state playoffs.
“We don’t like to lose, but if we are going to lose this time of the year we better have learned from it. I think this was also a good lesson for us because we got too comfortable after winning 5 games in a row and not giving up a goal.”
The Rams are lead on offense by Jesslyn Fagundes. Fagundes was a key factor in last year’s team that just missed the state final four.
Germond believes that opposing teams will pay more attention to Fagundes this year when she has the ball.
“I think teams will pay a lot more attention to her,” Germond said. “She will need to be more patient and capitalize when she has her chances and set up her teammates when she draws attention.”
Before FCC suffered their second loss of the season, the Rams went a total of five games without allowing a single goal.
Going into the Sept. 17 game with American River, the Rams were ranked No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
The next NSCAA rankings came out on Sept. 21, after this article was sent to press.
Even with the setback of a loss to American River, Germond feels that his team has improved since the start of the season.
“We know we can win close games and our defense has been outstanding,” Germond said.
“We still have a lot we need to improve especially our level of intensity that we play with off the ball. We just need to keep improving so we can be a better team and not just rely on our individual athleticism.”
“We have a lot of potential but we need to get all the pieces together at the right time of the season.”
The Rams will look to start another win streak as they take on Sierra, West Valley and De Anza in the next two weeks before an Oct. 1 showdown with Cabrillo.
