Dons lose first game of season at home

Santa Ana College women’s soccer lost 2-1 to Desert College on Friday. The Dons struggled in the beginning minutes of the first half as the Roadrunners were dribbling and connecting passes near the Dons goal.

SAC’S defensive line stepped up during the first half of the game keeping Desert from scoring and SAC forward Leilani Rodarte gave the Dons the lead in the first twenty minutes of the first half with an assist from forward Vida Mendoza.

The Roadrunners took control of the game in the final minutes as they were looking to win the game. The Dons defense let Roadrunners forwards dribble past them which led to the Roadrunners scoring a last minute goal.

“Today’s game could’ve been better, we could’ve been so much better”, said defender Alondra Gutierrez.

Defender Samantha Diaz defending the ball from Roadrunner forward. Photo by Kathy Rafferty / el Don

The Dons had a different look in the second half, losing control of the ball and passes being misplaced. The Roadrunners took advantage of the Dons’ mistakes and tied the game in the first five minutes of the second half.

“I think we could’ve done so much better,” said Rodarte. “We know how to pass, we know how to control the ball, we know what to do on the field, we get very pressured and overwhelmed.”

Goalkeeper Noemi Reyes kept the dons in the game with a massive save in the final minutes of the game but despite her efforts and saves the Roadrunners scored a last minute goal in the dying moments.

“Disappointing game, we played a lot better Tuesday than we had the following Friday, so there was a little bit of higher expectation based on what we showed on how we could play we didn’t show that today so it was unfortunate but we are going to learn from this and watch the film”, said Coach Jaymie Baquero.

Defender Alondra Gutierrez centered the ball and midfielder Brianna Mejia headed the ball towards goal and hit the crossbar. Having a clear chance of goal, SAC started to push forward Deserts goal and take shots but no results.

Roadrunners forward heading the ball in between Dons defense. Photo by Kathy Rafferty / el Don

The Dons are improving game by game and are in search of their first win of the season. Having players from two seasons ago come back has helped the Dons improve their game, the players bring their experience to new players.

Santa Ana Women’s Soccer will face LA Harbor College on Tuesday, Sep. 24.