The Concordia women’s soccer team achieved a dominant 3-0 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. The team’s offensive and defensive strategies left CSUDH struggling to keep up while securing the CUI women’s soccer team with a triumphant start to a season.

The hard-fought first half of the game consisted of both teams battling for possession of the ball. Offense often hugged the touchline which got them close to the opposing team's goal and the Green & Gold’s defense would not let the other team get anywhere near their goal.

The first goal scored was a penalty kick made by senior midfielder, Olivia Ocampo. This was a result of CSUDH committing a foul in their own penalty area by tripping one of CUI’s players. Maddie Lauro is a senior at Concordia and center midfielder from Carlsbad. Lauro, who pointed to a bloodied scratch on her upper leg, said that, “Sometimes games get ugly but, you know, we got a win.”

As the game continued in the second half, there was a more aggressive shift in the defense of the Concordia soccer team. Lauro said, “The first half wasn’t as good as we thought it was going to be but in the second half we came out and we executed.”

In recognition of the challenging first half of the game, head coach Chris Gould said, “We went away from the fundamentals that we know we have to do and that caused us a lot of issues in the first half of the game.” Gould continued, “Thankfully, we have a good group, they recognized it and fixed it.”

The second half of the game was full of tough clashes on the field. Several Golden Eagles were pushed down by the opponents. The competition saw numerous yellow cards due to misconduct. However, the Lady Eagles did not go down without a fight. They pushed back with two goals made within a three minute span by Hailey Havican, a junior forward with an assist from sophomore midfielder, Bella Barrett.

Commenting on the challenges of the game, Lauro said, “Even when things get tough, we need to pull out of it and come together as a team again. We keep this to our core and we really showed that with this gritty win that we pulled out.”

Gould said after the game, “When looking at how the team is performing we are further ahead collectively compared to the past few years. We’ve had great student athletes the whole time and players that have really committed to giving the best part of themselves to the program.”

Despite the physical challenges faced, the Golden Eagles dominated the playing field. They demonstrated their ability to recalibrate and adapt to their opponents defenses as well as, showcase their offensive tactile prowess. Their merited 3-0 victory has set high standards for the remainder of the season and fans are eagerly expecting to see many more golden goals from the Women’s team.

Tags: women's athletics

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