Women's Soccer Victory Brings them Closer to a Playoff Spot

After posting victories in their final two away games of the season, the Santa Monica College Lady Corsairs soccer team (12-2-5) is sitting delicately as the number 12 seed in the regional rankings for the regional playoffs coming up in two weeks. However, as the season winds down, the importance of finishing the season strong proves no more important than where the Lady Corsairs currently reside.

A rematch with College of the Canyons (4-17-0) proved to be almost a mirror image of their previous matchup over a month ago, ending in a 4-0 shutout. Led in scoring with two goals and an assist by freshman forward Jen Hager, sophomore forward Lauren Klibingat posted her second goal against College of the Canyons in their season series. Hager and Klibingat lead the Lady Corsairs in scoring with stat lines of 13 goals/6 assists and 11 goals/8 assists.

All four forwards of the Lady Corsairs squad were involved in the action this last Tuesday, as freshman forwards Hallie Spigelman and Abigail Van Doren contributed an assist and goal, respectively.

The Lady Corsairs final away game of the regular season at Los Angeles Valley College (4-13-3) auspicious final away game, as the Los Angeles Valley College Monarchs played whipping boy in a 10-0 loss at SMC one month prior. Motivated to not let history repeat itself, Los Angeles Valley College put up two goals in a 5-2 loss to the Lady Corsairs, marking only the fourth time all season and the first time in their last nine games that the Lady Corsairs have allowed two or more goals in a match.

Obviously, it can be said that when a 5-2 win marks a defensive "letdown" during a regular season game, it speaks as testament to both the tenacity of the defense and the efficiency of the offense. Seven Lady Corsair players contributed goals or assists, including two goals by defenders Jackie Dawson and Morgan McKnight.

With these two wins, the Lady Corsairs sit at 12-2-5, with 26 points in the division. Trailing Bakersfield College (13-4-3) and Los Angeles Pierce College (15-3-4) by three divisional points each, to have a shot at winning the Western State Conference Title, many mathematical possibilities ensue. With each divisional game counting as three division points for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss, the soccer scenario abacus is already melting in trying to figure out how many possible combinations can lead to the first Western Conference State Title for the SMC Lady Corsairs.

Put bluntly, for the Lady Corsairs to have a shot at taking the title, winning out is almost required. With that, the Lady Corsairs would need Bakersfield College and Los Angeles Pierce College to either tie the remaining games in the schedule or lose out for the remaining two games of both teams. Both Bakersfield College and Los Angeles Pierce College traded teams this week, both playing College of the Canyons and Glendale College (8-7-5).

The Lady Corsairs will finish their season at home against Los Angeles Mission College (6-12-2) and Citrus College (7-13-2), where the five Lady Corsairs sophomores, including cocaptains Jackie Dawson and Jenilee Pabro, will be playing Citrus College in their final regular season match.