By Derek Ortega

By Derek Ortega

The women’s soccer team was led by first year head coach Lynsey Jalayer, who hosted the Spartans of Mira Costa in a non conference match Sept 14.

Prior to this game the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season to Orange Coast.

When asked how she felt about today’s game Jalayer was optimistic.”Yesterday we got caught flatfooted, gave up a goal on a counter attack and now the ladies had time to reflect on what happen during yesterdays game,” she said. “We will come out stronger today and not let ourselves down.”

That is exactly what the team did. In the first half, the Tigers stole the ball from the Spartans’ defenders and applied pressure to the Mira Costa goalkeeper. Leading the attempts to score was Megan Cardoza, Monica Meyer and Michelle Black.

Together, they functioned great as a team and that is a key element in order to compete in the Orange Empire Conference.

The women displayed outstanding ball handling and footwork. At one point in the game Riverside’s Black used her moves to get by a Spartan defender and still managed to score a solo goal. The women’s soccer team showed impressive passing skills and good communication with each teammate on the field.

In the second half the Tigers did not show any signs of slowing down. Showing the same intensity and aggressiveness as they did in the first half, Cardoza led the way in scoring two more goals along with teammate Rosa Renteria, who scored one of her own, putting the Tigers well ahead of the Spartans. In the end, the final score was 7-0 in favor of Riverside.