It was a bright and sunny day on Sept. 26 where a soccer game was played between the Los Medanos Mustangs and the Cañada Colts. The game was in the Colt’s favor for most of the game as LMC lost 3-1 in a tough defeat.
It seemed as though the game would be competitive, which it was, but the Stangs couldn’t make the comeback.
The game started out with both teams fighting for control until the 10th minute when Jimena Sandoval got past the LMC defense, got a 1v1 with Maliah Alicea, the Mustangs goalkeeper, and scored on the left side of the net.
For the rest of the half, the Colts maintained possession of the ball while LMC was stuck attempting to keep the ball away from their net.
However, in the 35th minute, Colts’ forward Rachel Mull kicked the ball toward the net which got deflected by multiple LMC defenders and went into the back of the net as Alicea had no chance to save the shot.
Four minutes later, the Colts’ forward Mull would score again giving the Colts a 3-0 lead going into halftime. It looked as though the Mustangs were going to be blown out by the Colts’ but then the second half began.
At the start of the second half, the Colts had possession for the first 15 minutes but the Stangs would show their offensive power as they pressured the Colts defense with aggressiveness and desire to score.
The Stangs would steal the ball, move the ball up the field and shoot the ball onto the net with no luck for the next five minutes.
These plays would soon force free kicks as the plays would end in pushing LMC players. In the 66th minute, Briana Garcia received a free kick deep in the Colts’ territory. She measured up her shot and scored in the top right side of the net cutting the Colts’ lead down to 3-1.
The goal would then give the Stangs more confidence in their playmaking and they continued the aggressiveness until the final whistle was blown. Even with all the pressure, the Stangs just couldn’t get past the tight defense that the Colts had to make the comeback down 3-0 at halftime.
After the game was over, both teams showed sportsmanship with LMC chanting “Good game Cañada” and Cañada chanting “LMC.” After the chants, the LMC bench started singing “Happy Birthday” to Reina Ramos-Hall to show love for their teammate.
It was a hard-fought victory for the Colts as they now move to 6-2-1 for the season and LMC go to 2-5-2 on the season.
For the Mustangs, apart from the game against San Joaquin Delta on Friday, the remainder of their games are against conference teams. The rest of the season will be important if they want to move on to the playoffs.
The next game for the Stangs will be a double-header as they face Napa Valley at 2 p.m. and San Joaquin Delta at 6 p.m. at LMC.
