On-Field Fight Sparks Eight Ejections and Cuts Short Monarchs’ Comeback Bid
Four Monarchs were issued red cards during Tuesday’s contest and will leave the team short-handed for their next match.
By: Joshua Kahn, Staff Writer
A brawl erupted in the 89th minute of Tuesday’s soccer match between Valley College and Santa Ana College, abruptly ending the match with the Dons leading the Monarchs 2-1.
“It was unfortunate to be on our own campus,” Athletic Director Dave Mallas said. “For both programs, we’ve never seen anything quite like we did yesterday.”
The fight erupted as a team-on-team scuffle with instances of jersey pulling and slapping by both teams, eventually mellowing out to four players from each team continuing to fight.
Monarchs Jennifer Trejo, Julia Morgan, Leslie Perez and Maria Rodriguez were involved in the altercation, with each being issued red cards and will face at least a one-game suspension, according to Mallas.
Santa Ana’s Amy Ramos, Ester Garcia, Polette Munoz and Marcia Ochoa were also issued red cards and will face suspensions.
Captains Haley Mallas and Natalie Valencia formally apologized in a post-game interview with the Valley Star.
“L.A. Valley women's soccer does not stand for any type of aggression on or off the field,” Mallas said. “anyone that was affected who had anything to do with [the incident], on or off the field, we apologize.”
Valley head coach Jonathan Horst was unsure the source of the fight but said his team will learn from the game.
“I told the team that things happen during competition, and sometimes people get too heated when they are trying to comeback and win the game,” Horst said. “So it's a learning lesson to the entire team about what happened today.”
The Monarchs fought hard on offense during the first half of the game but ultimately went 1-15 on their scoring opportunities. In minute 39 of the game, a crucial goal was called offside for the Monarchs.
“They got the call right,” says Horst. “It was a very tight call on that offside call and overall we need to do better as a team so we don’t need to look back and say ‘I wish we got that goal instead of getting the goals ourselves.’”
Earlier in the second half, the Monarchs were down 2 to 0 in the 50th minute when midfielder Haley Mallas scored a goal to help the Monarchs hedge a comeback against Santa Ana College.
The game was stopped and the win awarded to Santa Ana. The loss halted the team’s four-game winning streak and moved their record to 4-2.
The short-handed Monarchs will host City College Friday at 4 p.m.
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