Valley College women’s soccer loses four in a row

Valley moves to sixth place in Western State South Conference

By Sean Scully, Staff Writer

Monarchs Megan Knutson and Kylie Brenninkmeijer make efforts to stop the ball from the attacking Corsair of Santa Monica College (Griffin O'Rourke | Valley Star)

Valley College women’s soccer team lost their fourth consecutive game 0-3 against Santa Monica College on Oct. 7 due to a sluggish performance and lack of depth in the roster.

Santa Monica took advantage of Valley’s poor ball movement and lack of intensity which led them to score twice within the initial thirty minutes of the match. The Monarchs had one shot on goal the entire first half while the Corsairs managed six.

“I think we were flat in the first half,” said Monarch Head Coach Greg Venger. “Our line has a bad habit of playing high and they’re getting behind us way too easy.”

Santa Monica was able to break through the defensive line multiple times unnoticed. The Monarchs went into halftime down 0-2.

“They need to wake up,” said Monarch Associate Head Coach Melissa Fernandez while walking to the locker room at the end of the half. “We need to go over some clear mistakes that were made but they’re easy fixes. I’m hoping they're pumped and ready to go in the second half because this game is very winnable.”

At the start of the second half, a spark began to ignite for Valley. The Monarchs managed four shots on goal by applying offensive pressure and shifted smoothly during transitions to defense.

Despite Valley bringing the fight to Santa Monica after halftime, it was not enough to overcome the deficit from the first half, both in score and stamina.

“As the season goes on, it’s harder to keep going because these girls are playing full ninety minute games and we don’t have fresh legs behind us,” said Coach Venger.

At the 88-minute mark of the game, Santa Monica player Eden Hotch managed to break through Valley’s exhausted defensive line and score another goal, which ended the game 0-3. The Monarchs concluded the game with five shots on goal while Santa Monica put up a total of 11.

“This conference is tough, man,” said Coach Venger in a post-game interview. “Right now, it’s a three-team battle for fifth place for us. I wanted to be competing in the top four but at the end of the day we need to finish and score goals.”

Valley College currently resides in sixth place while Citrus College sits at number one in the Western State South Conference.

Valley College’s next match will be on Friday against Bakersfield at 2 p.m.