The Pasadena City College women's soccer team has used a quick-strike offense to burn opponents and erase deficits. On Friday, the Lancers scored three straight goals in a span of just nine minutes during the first half and went on to beat Cerritos, 4-3, at Robinson Stadium.
PCC (6-6-2 overall) improved to 2-1-1 in the South Coast Conference North Division, now in second place behind Mt. San Antonio. It was the second straight game that the Lancers trailed early only to come back and gain team points.
Cerritos, a program that won 13 straight conference titles between 2006-2018, is having a rough year, dropping to 2-8-1 and a surprising 0-4 in the SCC South Division standings. Pasadena snapped an 11-game series losing streak against the Falcons, winning for the first time v. Cerritos since 2012.
Trailing 1-0, the Lancers tied it in the 14th minute as Isabela Guerrero headed a corner kick by Gabby Morales into the upper net for her sixth goal of the season. Just two minutes later, Guerrero dribbled along the sideline of the goalie box and sent a cross that was touched by Athena Vournas, then knocked in by Olivia Aguilar for a 2-1 PCC lead.
In the 23rd minute, Morales fed a cross to the center of the field to Marianna Hernandez, who 1-timed a blast from the 10-yard line for a 3-1 advantage.
Cerritos battled back to cut it to 3-2 before halftime. In the second half, both teams had numerous chances. Katie Alexander nearly tied it for the Falcons in the 64th minute but her 1-time boot off a corner kick hit the cross bar.
The Lancers then struck gold in the 69th minute as Mia Bedoyan fed another cross pass in the box to a wide-open Vournas who tapped in what proved to be the game-winner. Cerritos cut the lead to one again in the 75th minutes on a Meghan Legayada goal. PCC prevented anymore serious scoring chances the rest of the way to seal the triumph.
In the opening 30 seconds, defender Katy Cabral-Sinardi made a tremendous defensive save to rob a goal, kicking out a shot that beat goalie Christina Echeverrie and was at the goal-line. Cabril-Sinardi had a few slide tackles and was tremendous on defense all game for the Lancers. Echeverrie went on to make nine saves. Morales and Guerrero had strong performances on offense.
"It's been a while since we have had a strong first half, so we went into halftime in a better position for a change," said PCC head coach Terryn Soelberg. "Our forwards and midfielders were being creative and breaking down the Cerritos defense. I was excited for Marianna to get her first goal of the season. And what a goal to finish on with Mia's cross and Athena being at the right place to put it away."
Two Lancers have left the program for personal reasons in sophomore Devin Zamora, 23rd on the PCC all-time scoring list, and 2021 letterman defender Kassie Martinez.
Pasadena returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 18 when it travels to play El Camino College in a 2 p.m. conference start.