Sweet Revenge Keeps Season Alive for Women's Soccer
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, SMC’s women’s soccer team won the first round of playoffs for the 2022 season playing against Bakersfield.
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, the Santa Monica College (SMC) Corsairs women’s soccer team won the first round of playoffs for the 2022 season playing against Bakersfield College. SMC has competed against Bakersfield two times previously this season, losing the first game and tying the second game, leaving this third and final game of the season to be the deciding factor on SMC’s continuation for this season.
With this playoff game being the third game against Bakersfield, SMC showed improvement by holding off their opponents, keeping the ball on Bakersfield’s half for the majority of the game. Bakersfield’s players showed signs of worry and uneasiness as their defense was not strong enough against SMC’s offense.
12 minutes into the first half of the game, number 13, Sophie Doumitt, scored the first and only goal of the game, unassisted, against the team in red and white, setting the tone for the rest of the game. A second goal was almost scored by SMC in the end of the second half; however, the goal was not counted, due to the perception of the referees who believed that the ball did not cross the line to count the goal, even though the ball touched the top of the net. The crowd was confused as they cheered for, what they believed to be, a second goal.
As SMC led the scoreboard 1-0, there were many missed calls against Bakersfield that left SMC’s players, coach, and the individuals in the stands frustrated. The biggest missed call occurred at the beginning of the second half of the game, where a player from Bakersfield shoved a SMC player to the ground and no penalty was given. This was the beginning of a decrease in sportsmanship from both teams. Following this missed call, halfway through the second half, a yellow card was given to player 14, Vashti Zuniga, of SMC, and player 15 on Bakersfield’s team when a collision happened in the air from both players fighting for the ball.
SMC held off Bakersfield until the final whistle was blown, showcasing a hard earned win from SMC with the final score of 1-0. The Corsair women’s soccer team erupted in cheers as they discovered they would be moving on to the second round of playoffs of the 2022 women’s soccer season.
When asking the SMC head coach Aaron Benditson of his thoughts on how the game went, he said “we have worked so hard to get to this moment and be so united to move onto the playoffs ... I just want us to keep our season alive for as long as we can, work hard collectively together as a team and see what happens.”
