On a chilly evening at Los Medanos College, the Mustangs lost Tuesday to the Folsom Lake College Falcons 1-0 in a hard-fought affair. This result was somewhat of a moral victory for the Stangs, as in the last match between these teams Folsom destroyed LMC 6-0. On top of that the Falcons are the Bay Valley Conference’s top dog with an undefeated, 16-0-3, record heading into the game.
“The last game was actually a really big accomplishment for us,” sophomore midfielder Lauren Ayers said. “They (Folsom) have been blowing teams out of the water so it was cool being the underdog and frustrating them like that.”
The score did not show the fact that Folsom was really in control of the game all along. The ball was in possession of the Falcons for most of the match as shots were being fired at goalie Kara Leffle left and right. Coming up with a clean sheet in the first half, the sophomore was clutch for her team as she kept giving her offense chances to pull ahead. Finally, about an hour into the game, Folsom pulled ahead and stayed ahead as a loose ball in the box was banged into the net. Leffle was not terribly disappointed with the end result.
“This was a nerve racking game for sure,” she said. “All throughout it was pretty hectic but we held our own. I thought we rose to the challenge (of Folsom) and it was a great game.”
The Mustangs only have two wins on the season, beating Marin 3-0 and Yuba 1-0. Even with the tough competition, Head Coach Mark Bryant has to be pleased with the fact that the team finished out the season hard. There has been subtle improvement throughout the year, as at the beginning of the campaign almost every team played was beating the Stangs by five goals.
“I would say that we have grown completely and now are a much better team,” Ayers said. “I don’t think any of the teams that we’ve played thus far thought that the second time around would be much different. We were able to keep some of those same teams to scores like 1-0.”
Ayers did not even know if she would be a part of the team this year as a torn meniscus sidelined her for the first half of the season. A home-field turf surface is potentially dangerous for someone with a serious knee injury. She figures since it could be her last season, she decided to play through the injury and push back her needed surgery until December.
Currently Folsom is in sole possession of first place in the Bay Valley Conference and will be heading to the playoffs to continue their torrid pace. The success of the program can widely be attributed to Head Coach Donny Ribaudo, who played for CSU Chico, the California Gold, the Chico Rooks, and the Sacramento Knights according to www.flc.losrios.edu/.
The Stangs will be looking for a three-win season Friday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. against Mendocino College in the last match of the 2013 campaign.