Freshman’s First Goal Ends Game 5 in Tie: Women’s Soccer Goes On to Dominate

Fresno City College’s women’s soccer team finished the fifth game of the season in a draw marked by freshman midfielder Vanessa Penuna’s first goal of the season against the number two nationally ranked Santiago Canyon Hawks.

The Rams got off to an aggressive start early in the first half, which resulted in a goalie injury for the Hawks and a subsequent penalty for the FCC Rams. Santiago Canyon seized the advantage by scoring a goal with less than 15 minutes remaining in the first half.

Following halftime, the Rams returned to the field with energized spirits and improvements on player communication. Ten minutes into the second half, Penuna saw the opportunity to score and seized it, kicking the goal that would eventually end the game in a tie for both teams. Penuna  plays outside-mid and appeared humbled by her achievement early in the season.

Halfway through the second half FCC maintained  exceptional field coverage, and more so noticeably by skilled defender Moriah Rodriguez.  “Every year there’s a new group of girls coming in, half of the team leaves,” said Rodriguez. On whether the team saw improving in communication skills as

an issue, Rodriguez adds “We’ve gotten a lot better… we are starting to click more.”

FCC goalie Tara Togami agrees that communication between players is crucial.

“It makes it easier,” Togami said.After what appeared to be an easy comeback for FCC, the Rams went into game six with improvement in player communication and strengthened offensive tactics on the field. The Rams managed to pull an impressive win in Tuesday’s game against San Joaquin Delta (4-1), but Coach Oliver Germond says there is always room for improvement. “We’ve done well as far as dominating games and [with the] pressure of the teams,” said FCC head coach Oliver Germond. “We played Tuesday and won, but our energy was kind of down.”

When asked how the women’s soccer team planned on preparing for Friday’s game against Napa Valley, Germond stated the importance of the players to concentrate on finishing the game strong.

The  next game, similar to the Santiago Canyon were the difference between winning and losing lies in a technicality like giving up goals due to a penalty. Germond believes in utilizing other methods of keeping the players excited with the game.

“This week was actually interesting because I felt the girls needed a break from the everyday routine of being out here in the super hot sun,” he said. “I felt like they were worn out and it’s always important to try to keep things exciting and lively.” Things certainly did get lively, as the women’s soccer team maintained their momentum by achieving another win in game seven on Friday.

With an impressive presence on the field for the Rams,  entire team exhibited exceptional improvement in strong finishes.

In the first half, the Rams took firm to the field and scored three goals, but it was the second half where we saw the women’s soccer team dominate by scoring twice as many goals, bringing game seven to a devastating 9-1 loss for Napa Valley.