The Fresno City College women’s soccer team got their fifth consecutive win after defeating Bakersfield College 1-0 Tuesday evening.

The Rams continued their winning streak by edging past the Bakersfield Renegades in a match with little action and lots of effort.

The Renegades came out of the gate with high energy, applying a great deal of pressure to an FCC team that kept its cool.

“A credit to Bakersfield; I thought they were very physical. I feel like every team we face does a good job just sitting back and defending us, but it really tested our patience,” said head coach Oliver Germond.

Germond says that scouting played a hand in the Renegades’ early efforts to contain the Rams. “Being physical against us is smart, because it disrupts our game. It’s what makes soccer fun, because we need to figure out how to get better,” he said.

In the first half, freshman forward Megan Galvan rifled in a loose ball to put FCC above Bakersfield. They’d stay on top throughout the match, but not without worry.

“I thought we had a few chances in the game where we could’ve scored a couple more and that’s kind of been an issue so far this season,” Germond said. “Sometimes we keep other teams in the game and that makes it a little scary.”

Going into halftime, the Rams felt it was necessary to make some changes. “We could see where we needed to do a better job attacking and finding space. We had a hard time using our speed and getting behind them,” Germond said.

The team made adjustments to accommodate to the game, playing more up to speed, getting their midfielders in rather than their forwards and trying different combinations to get ahead of the defense.

These changes made on the fly are a credit to the program’s attitude on learning. “ I feel like our effort today wasn’t where it should’ve been, but it’s just another learning moment,” said Germond.

The women’s soccer team won’t play again for another week when they take on Solano Community College on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m.

Germond says that training will be a focus for the program to keep from slowing down over the break. “Fitness is always a key to our game. It’s always important to maintain that to get ready for the next match,” he said.

The Rams will return home to play Lake Tahoe Community College on Friday, Sept. 20 at 2 p.m.