A match that began with promise ended up sour for the Fresno City College women’s soccer team. The Rams faced the Sierra College Wolverines in the third round of the Northern California Regional playoffs and took the lead in the 19th minute when Sara Reed found sophomore midfielder Emily Hinson for the score.
Energized by the goal, the Rams stepped up their defense and held Sierra College scoreless for the rest of the half.
But then came the second half and it was the Wolverines’ turn to celebrate.
In the 51st minute, FCC keeper Jasmine Cordova blocked the shot but Miani Mahannah found the rebound and scored the header to tie the game at 1-1.
Mahannah didn’t stop there. In the 81st minute she received the ball from Caroline Stromick to score her second goal of the game and give Sierra a 2-1 lead.
With the home crowd urging them on, the Rams were awarded a corner in stoppage time. But the cross fell harmlessly into the hands of the keeper and the Wolverines stormed the field in celebration of their trip to the state championship.
“We kept battling and we were hoping to get one in but it didn’t quite work out,” said freshman forward Jenna Thomason. “We did well on defense but a couple slipped in.”
Thomason led the Rams this season with 17 goals and 13 assists.
“It was a pleasure to work with all the sophomores and the freshmen this year. I can’t wait till next year,” she said.
The key for Sierra College was to put more pressure on the Rams.
“At halftime we talked about putting them under more pressure,” said Sierra College head coach Jason Gantt. “We started putting more pressure up high and both goals came from putting pressure.”
The Wolverines defense also did its job in the second half.
”Our defense was unreal,” said Gantt. “Our back four won the game for us.”
Mahannah was impressed with how her team never gave up.
“We knew that once they scored, it wasn’t the end of it,” said Mahannah. “At the beginning of the game, I wasn’t happy because we got excited with every chance we got but towards the end we kept our composure and we started working together.“
In addition to Mahannah’s two goals, Sierra College took advantage of a strong performance from the midfielders.
“We came out flat and gave them too much space but we were going to keep fighting and win,” said midfielder Giuliani Grana. ”The game plan was to pressure them and just know that they are beatable.“
Though it was a tough loss for the Rams, head coach Oliver Germond had a lot to be proud of.
“We lost nine of our starters from last year. We didn’t know what to expect,” said Germond. “ We started the season 1-3 so to get this far and be the No.1 seed is a great achievement. I’m proud of what we have done.”
