The Los Medanos Mustangs women’s soccer team battled the Hartnell Panthers on Sept. 6 and lost a heartbreaker with a final score of 4-2. It was a wild last 10 minutes that had the audience cheering, booing and shocked at the plays being made.
LMC had possession first but turned it over and stayed on defense for the first 15 minutes of the game. The Panthers struck first on a breakaway as the ball was kicked to the center and Nathalie Maravillo tapped it in to give Hartnell a 1-0 lead.
Seven minutes after the Panther’s score, the Mustangs got a huge chance as Issabella Burton was hit hard by the Panther’s defender within the goalie box rewarding her with a penalty kick to tie the game. The kick was successful as the ball went under the diving hands of Najeli Jimenez, the Panthers goalkeeper, tying the game at one goal each.
The next 12 minutes were filled with back and forth as only one shot was made and missed high over the LMC net. In the 34th minute of the game, Marce Ramirez scored for the Panthers giving them a 2-1 lead going into halftime.
After halftime, the game continued with both teams displaying great shows on defense. In the 58th minute, Hartnell had the ball and one of the players kicked the ball to the top left corner of the net. However, Maliah Alicea, the LMC goalkeeper, was ready for it and made an incredible one-handed jump save to keep the score 2-1.
That save gave the team more spark as they would get a corner kick after Hartnell kicked it out to slow down the Stangs. Brenda Ramirez would then score on a tap-in from the corner kick.
After that goal, the game slowed down as both teams attempted to gain some offense, but were stopped until the 83rd minute. In the 83rd minute, Jasmin Castillo showed her quickness on the field with the ball as she got past the LMC defenders, but shot the ball wide right of the net.
Four minutes later, Castillo would again gain possession and get past the LMC defenders, scoring the ball to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead with three minutes remaining. Alicea also attempted to take the ball away by running up but ultimately failed, giving Castillo an open net.
LMC would turn on the pressure as they had multiple chances to tie the game, but they all missed the net. The biggest change during the final five minutes of the game was when Burton gained possession passing to an open Emily Jimenez, giving her the chance to score. She would unfortunately shoot the ball wide left of the net.
In the 70th minute of the game, the Panthers changed goalkeepers from Najeli Jimenez to Kayla Silva. In the 88th minute, LMC was deep in their offensive zone and created a chance for a goal but was stopped on a diving save by Silva.
In the final minute of the game, Castillo would once again show her quickness scoring the final goal ending LMC’s chance of leaving with a tie.
The women’s soccer team’s next game will be against Sacramento City on Sept. 8 at Hughes Stadium. Their next home game will be against Feather River on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m.
