Fresno City College women’s soccer team began the season with a 2-1 defeat against Cosumnes River College in the Central Valley Conference, followed by the Ventura tournament that rendered mixed results. Jenna Thomason scored the sole goal in 1-0 victory against San Diego Mesa College. The tournament wrapped with FCC losing 0-1 against Cypress Chargers.

The Rams returned to the conference where Jasmine Woodruff scored the only goal in a 1-1 in a game against the College of the Canyons.

The girls were then defeated 3-1 by Santiago Canyon on Sept 8. Ram’s defender, Laura McIntosh scored their only goal of the game. McIntosh credits the entire team for her goal. “Everybody was pressuring really well just like he (Coach Germond) tells us to,” she said. “It caused one of their defenders to make a really bad clearance. I’m usually told to clean up and then recycle it back in. I was able to make an opportunity out of what they did.”

The Rams played their first home game against American River College, a team they have had tight games with in seasons past. “We’ve gone through battles with them. We’re pretty even when it comes to results between American River and us,” said Head Coach Oliver Germond. “I don’t think either of us has beaten the other by more than one goal.”

Thomason was eager to score a goal early in the game. “I was, like, ‘oh if we got one (goal) in the first three minutes maybe it’s possible to keep scoring,” she said. Thomason was successful in scoring a goal early on which did open the floodgates resulting in an 8-0 win against American River. Both Thomason and Leslie Arietta managed hat-tricks during the game. Woodruff and Lesslee Hernandez also scored contributing to the win.

Germond believed this win was exactly what the team needed. “We needed a game like that to get our confidence up for the girls and see that they can, you know, play together and be successful,” he said.

Laura McIntosh confirms that the win lifted her spirits. “I was like ‘yes we’ve got it. This is good,” she said. “I knew we could do it.”

Thomason also expressed her delight with the result. “I was really happy with the 8-0 win,” she said. “It was nice that they (American River) didn’t score against us—it was just as good as scoring eight.”

Thomason found the net again three days later in a 2-1 home game victory against Sierra College during which Rams freshman, Alicia Kolter, also scored a goal.