Citrus’ women’s soccer team won against Bakersfield 2-1 on Nov. 12 at Citrus’ sophomore night home game.
Having lost to Bakersfield once on Oct. 18, the Owls had their redemption.
“We didn’t play well against Bakersfield in the last game, but this time, the girls are inspired and motivated to play well,” head coach Timothy Tracey said.
First-year Sarah Nelson, who plays midfielder/attacker, scored the first goal of the night, which led to a mini-team celebration. Nelson scored the second and final goal of the game, with the owls taking the lead, 2-1.
Second-year Citrus student and one for the team captains Stevie Spencer, who plays center back, received the first yellow card of the night for foul play soon after the first goal was made by Nelson.
Bakersfield’s Emily Vincent scored the only goal for her college.
A head-to-head collision occurred during the game when a Bakersfield player and Citrus’ Jasmin Alvarado collided after both going for the ball.
Alvarado went down for a few seconds and was almost taken out to be checked on, but then got back up and walked it off. The crowd gave her a round of applause and her teammates patted her on the back.
After losing two games, one to Bakersfield and another to Glendale on Oct. 22, the team realized that they needed to be more supportive of each other, Spencer said.
First-year Alyssa Quiroz and Spencer both received yellow cards for foul play.
Spencer received the only red card of the night after two yellow cards and she was pulled out of the game. She will not be playing in the next game against Glendale.
Bakersfield’s Brooklyn Tucker collided with Nelson in the last few minutes of the game, which left the referee noticing Nelson was wearing jewelry that was against the rules. She was then called out of the game.
Nelson said that when Tucker collided with her she felt “like she was trying to pull out my shoulder.”
After the game was over and Bakersfield left, the seven sophomores of the team were recognized and received a bouquet of flowers. The honored sophomores include Spencer, Nelson, Alvarado, Emily Cherry, Julianna Gasca, Megan Sewell and Arianna Salcido.
When the sophomores names were called, the announcer read their future aspirations after community college and their words of thanks.