Women’s soccer beats West Valley in last game

Cristian Munoz Ayala, Staff Writer

The De Anza College women’s soccer team ended its season with a bang, beating West Valley College 4-0 on Tuesday Nov. 11.

In the beginning of the game the team was firing on all cylinders with two back-to-back goals in the first five minutes. With freshman forward Sulma Plancarte dribbling the ball all the way to the goal, she took a shot that was saved by the West Valley goalkeeper, but luckily it rebounded to sophomore forward Alejandra Gutierrez and she put the ball into the net for a 1-0 advantage.

For the second goal, sophomore midfielder Tori Ramirez was able to find Plancarte and feed her a through ball that left Plancarte on a one-on-one with the keeper, and she scored to give the Dons a 2-0 lead.

The first half was full of action and fast-pace play. From corner kicks to quick breakaways, the Dons dominated the field.
De Anza went into halftime winning 2-0.

In the second half, the team focused on passing the ball and maintaining control of the pitch.

An outstanding defensive effort from co-captain and sophomore midfielder Madlyn Kelly, and freshman defender Kelly Baxter kept West Valley off the board.

“It felt great. We worked hard to make that game a shut out,” Kelly said. “Our forwards made it possible for us to succeed by scoring and putting the game away.”

As the last 10 minutes of the game approached, Plancarte was able to go on a breakaway and score another goal to make the score 3-0.

With just stoppage time left, sophomore forward Jenny Ng Wu scored a header and put the game away with a final score
of 4-0.

Although the Dons didn’t get the season they wanted, they were still able to win their last game and enjoy the victory.

“[I tried to] focus on my game and enjoy playing,” said freshman forward and co-captain Cassie Polini. “I had the emotions come out after it was over.”

It was the last game as a Don for the sophomores on the team and the whole team had a little ceremony after the game to show their appreciation.

Head coach Cheryl Owiesny choked up as the women were saying their goodbyes.

“[I like] their overall personalities,” Owiesny said. “There’s a lot of fun, hard working individuals that came together as a team to do what we did.”

The women’s soccer team finished the season with an overall record of six wins, nine losses, and three ties.