A combination of individual skill and indecisive defending each side of the halftime sank the De Anza Dons women’s soccer team in a 2-1 loss to the visiting Cabrillo Seahawks.

De Anza (6-11-2) came into the Nov. 8 match facing an eighth ranked Cabrillo team (15-3-0) that had won 14 of its last 15 and was undefeated on the road. But the Dons had reasons to be optimistic, having played the Seahawks close in a 2-1 loss in October, and recently earning a 1-1 draw against ninth ranked Evergreen Valley.

The first 20 minutes saw both teams struggle to string together passes as both teams’ defenses played an uptempo game. Dons’ forward Katarina Comesana directed two shots at goal from long range, while Cabrillo put a couple of good crosses into the De Anza box.

For the rest of the first half, the majority of play took place on the Dons’ turf. Seahawks forward Emily Palmer, eighth in the region in both goals and assists, directed the Cabrillo attack with both precise passes and tireless runs in all areas of the field. While De Anza goalkeeper Yasmin Juarez often had to come off her line to field balls in the box, Cabrillo struggled to get threatening shots on goal.

The Dons best chance of the half came in the 42nd minute, when left midfield Katarina Comesana dribbled the ball down the left side into the Seahawks’ defensive third. Forward Taryn Phillips made a dangerous run down the middle, looking to receive a through ball, but Comesana over dribbled and was eventually dispossessed.

Despite Cabrillo being on the front foot, the game remained scoreless for 45 minutes. Well into stoppage time, Palmer received a long ball from midfield. After flicking the ball past her initial marker, Palmer held off two other Dons defenders, dribbled into the box and scored from 12 meters out, beating Juarez to the left for her 16th goal of the season.

While De Anza could tip its hat to Palmer’s excellent play, they could only blame themselves for the second Seahawk goal. Just two minutes into the second half, a Cabrillo throw-in deep in the Dons half bounced into the box. Seahawks forward Keara McCullough, outnumbered by De Anza defenders, managed to get to the ball first and kicked it in from close range to give Cabrillo a 2-0 lead.

“The first goal was a tremendous individual effort,” coach Andrew Ransome said. “Whereas the second goal was simply a case of a lack of communication which has haunted us over the season, but has progressively been better in recent weeks.”

Ransome added that overall, the defense did well to limit a potent Cabrillo attack to only two goals.

The Dons responded to the potentially demoralizing goal by playing their best soccer of the game in the 20 minutes that followed. Forward Veronica Ferreira, brought into the game late in the first half, was very active on the right side and combined with forward Marisol Sanchez to construct several plays that brought the ball into the Seahawks’ half.

The Dons’ good play was rewarded in the 66th minute when Sanchez forced a turnover deep in Cabrillo territory and passed the ball to a running Ferreira. Receiving the ball in the penalty box, Ferreira was fouled and tucked the ensuing penalty into the bottom left, bringing the Dons within one goal of tying.

Ferreira said the Dons have been a second half team all year.

“I just think after we’re down we kind of have more motivation,” she said. “[It] gives us something to work for, which is kind of bad but it works.”

Unfortunately for the Dons, the penalty would be their last clear-cut chance at goal. Cabrillo held most of the possession and forced De Anza back into their own half, leaving the Dons with insufficient numbers to mount a serious threat when they did regain the ball.