Taft College had mixed results in its first home soccer action Tuesday afternoon when Los Angeles Mission College brought its teams to town.
The Cougar women’s team breezed to a 7-0 shutout victory to improve its early season record to 2-1 while the men’s team played to a 2-all tie in its season opener.
Freshman midfielder/forward Jessica Miller from Stockdale High in Bakersfield scored a hat trick with three goals and added an assist.
Sophomore forward Maria Ibarra scored two goals and had two assists.
Freshmen midfielder Cassandra Arroyo (Lancaster High) and Erica Gomez (Palmdale High) each had a goal and an assist, and sophomore midfielder/forward Olivia Gonzales had the other two assists.
“Our defense played really well,” said head coach Myisha Cutrona. “We’ve worked really hard on defense first, and the rest will fall into place.
“They started off strong and maintained that the whole game. Our back line was very organized.”
She praised the work of freshman defender Clare Nissa (Lancaster High) as a major factor in the success of the defense.
Again, her lone sophomores – Ibarra and Gonzales – provided the core leadership.
“They’ve been our strength on the field and continued that,” Cutrona said.
Eloisa Lopez (Lancaster) and Caitlin Nicholas (Centennial) shared goalkeeper duties. Each had a save.
In the men’s game, the Cougars had a 2-1 lead until the 77th minute when L.A. Mission scored on a hard shot from the right side that barely eluded Cougar goalkeeper Emilio Miranda.
Ruben Barraza and Angel Garcia scored goals for the Cougars with Alberto Garcia and Saul Valencia each getting an assist.
The Cougar women are at the Cuesta College tournament in San Luis Obispo today and will play Lassen tomorrow.
The men’s team is in Orange County today playing Fullerton College.
Both teams will host Santa Barbara City College next Friday (Sept. 10).
