Soccer starts season strong Brahmas begin 18th season for head coach Adolfo Perez 2-1-2

FELIPE GAMINO Sports Editor @fgamino13

Brahmas soccer already have five games in the books and the start to their season has had its ups and downs.

The soccer team are currently fourth in the Western State Conference- South with a 2-1-2 overall record.

Head Coach Adolfo Perez said the start to the season has been good.

“Overall it has been good. We have a hard schedule, but we’ve been blessed to have a competitive team,” Perez said.

The soccer team already have been dealt two blows. Goalkeeper Madison Holland has been ruled out with a tore ACL and Irene Reyes, midfielder, suffered a knee injury after the game against MiraCosta College.

“I’m a little bummed. We have two players out. We dealt with it last year,” Perez said. “I felt we didn’t have an efficient summer and what you put in is what you get out of it.”

The Brahmas started their season on the road with a trip to Irvine Valley College. The Lasers took the lead, before Gisell Cruz and Keyonna Hill turned the game around to take a 2-1 lead.

However, with three minutes left in the game Savanna Hayes tied the game at two.

The Brahmas would be on the road again when they went to San Diego to have two games in less than 24 hours.

On Aug. 31, they faced the San Diego Miramar Jets in a rematch of last year. Hill and Jessica Tapia scored the goals to give the team their first road win.

The next day they would take on MiraCosta and Hill would continue her great start to the season scoring a brace. However, it wasn’t enough and the game ended in another 2-2 draw. The Brahmas left San Diego with a win and a draw.

Perez felt that the draws against Irvine and MiraCosta should have been wins for the team.

“Irvine was our first game. We were getting our feet wet, but we had opportunities to finish the game. We had the lead, but they scored with a minute and a half left in the game which was a bummer,” Perez said. “Against MiraCosta we missed seven one-on-one’s with the goalkeeper and we hit the post.”

The Brahmas hosted the Mt. San Jacinto College Eagles in their home opener. Heading into this game, goalkeeper Iliana Yanez played all three road games, but Perez decided to rotate three of his four goalies.

Emily Claros, Madison Holland and Valerie Mojica all played 30 minutes each. The team would begin losing, however Dominique Gonzalez led the comeback scoring two goals in 12 minutes.

Ian Felix/ Roundup

Cristina Peruch-Alegria, Jessica Palmer and Hill all added a goal and the team would win 5-1.

Hill leads the team with six goals and she is eight away from tying Cruz who was last season’s top goal scorer with 14. Gonzalez is second with two goals.

Hill said she is happy with the start she had and only looks forward to big things with the team. fgamino.roundupnews@gmail.com

“It feels awesome. That is one of my goals I want to achieve. Be the top goal scorer for the team this year, but you have to remain humble,” Hill said.

The Brahmas were on the road Friday when they faced the Antelope Valley College Mauraders. Heading into the game, the team were undefeated while the hosts were 1-1-1. Hill scored the lone goal for the team, as the Brahmas lost 3-1. Holland started the game before injuring herself in the 10th minute. Yanez came in her place and played the rest of the game.

Adriana Sosa is close to a full recovery after tearing her ACL last season and she is looking forward to be back on the team.

“It is exciting because I want to keep playing so I go to the university level,” Sosa said.