Balanced attack paces Lady Mats to win over Cougars
Five different players score in 5-0 victory
The Arizona Western women’s soccer team bounced back from a loss Thursday with a 5-0 victory over South Mountain on Saturday.
Five different players scored in the victory, the second-most that have scored in any one game for the Matadors (10-4 ACCAC) this season.
“It’s not ever easy losing a game and then having to play a few days later,” said coach Alexia Poon, whose team lost 1-0 to Mesa on Thursday. “But we bounced back and I’m happy about that. That’s probably what I liked most; our effort and us fighting.”
South Mountain (0-13 ACCAC), which lost 7-0 to AWC earlier this season, entered Saturday’s game winless in conference play. The Matadors opened the scoring in the 22nd minute via Cinthya Samaniego, and a goal via Kaylyn Barnes in the 36th minute to take a 2-0 lead into the half.
Poon was particularly excited about Barnes goal, because it was her first time playing in the field all season. She normally serves as the team’s backup goalie.
“That was really exciting,” Poon said. “I think that’s something that people here in Yuma should know, that our backup goalie can
10-4 ACCAC 0-13 ACCAC
score some goals.”
Emily Gardea (53’), Karla Navarro (63’) and Daisy Rodriguez (68’) added goals in the second half to give the Matadors their second-largest margin of victory of the season.
“It’s really nice that we don’t have just one leading goal-scorer on this team,” Poon said of the balanced attack. “It’s hard for other teams to identify who our