Lady Corsairs strong defense leads to 0-0 tie

The first conference match for the Santa Monica College Women’s Soccer team ended in a 0-0 draw against the Bakersfield College Renegades last Friday. The Corsairs played well on offense with seven shots on goal.

“Offensively we had 15 opportunities to score," said Corsair Head Coach Eric Benditson. "In a soccer game, that’s pretty damn good."

With 11 minutes left in the first half, Captain Olivia Patterson hit teammate Meg Pierce with a down-field pass, setting up a header on goal, but it was saved by the Renegade goalkeeper.

Eight penalties were called against the Corsairs, as well as a yellow card given to Desire Kober with 21 minutes remaining in the second half. Both squads had a combined total of 11 penalities in the match.

“The refereeing was awful. He lost complete control of the game,” said Benditson. “He missed a lot of calls.”

Captain Samantha Li, Vianca Barajas, and Yaya Godinez stood out defensively for the Corsairs.

“I feel great on the defensive side of things," said Benditson. "We got our first shutout.”

With four minutes reaming in the match, the Corsair’s Brianna Mackey had one last scoring opportunity, but was saved again by the Renegade goalkeeper, her seventh save of the game.

“We were strong defensively, (and) we had our opportunities to score goals,” said Benditson. “That’s all we could ask for. We just didn’t execute in front of the goal.”

Corsairs goal keeper Katherine Alvarenga made her third straight start since her season debut against Moorpark College.

Alvarenga had 13 saves this match and has given up just two goals in those three starts since the departure of former goalkeeper Alisa Sheldon.

“We had a couple of girls that left the team for personal reasons, but I think it’s been good," said Benditson. "Not good in the sense we lost players. But good in a sense that we have a committed group here that wants to take the team forward positively.”

“Last three results have been positive,” said Benditson. “To be fair of the game, we were the better team, (and) we had better opportunities to score goals, but we didn’t take our opportunities.”

The Corsairs are 1-5-2 this season, and look to add another win to their record Oct. 5 at L.A. Valley College.