Women’s soccer kickin’ it up early

The Yuba College Women’s Soccer Team has become competitive early, with wins against Los Medanos College, Consumes River College, and Solano College.

During their first home game of the season, the team beat the aggressive Los Medanos team in a 4-0 win, Friday, September 19. The strong defense kept the ball in Los Medanos territory for the majority of the game, giving the offense many chances to score. The team responded to Head Coach, Jason Spain’s call for “utter domination.”Yuba also beat Consumes River College in the last of a three-game series of away games on Tuesday, September 16. The 4-2 win brought confidence to the team. Team Captain Kelly “HM” Huarate said, “I think we played well against Consumes River. There is room for improvement, but we are going to kill the other teams this season.”

The team was also victorious in their first away game, against Solano College. However, the team thought that they could do better than the 2-1 win. Gina Attkinson said, “We are a good team with enormous potential. We just have a few things to work on as a team, like focusing on winning the 50-50 balls.”

The early wins have the Yuba College Women’s Soccer Team gearing up to have a repeat of last year’s championship season. During the 2002 season the team made it to the playoffs with an unrelenting 14-5-4 record. One of last year’s star defensive players, Stephanie Vega, will be returning to the 2003 team along with six other of last year’s teammates.

While the team has lost several of the 2002 key players (Liz Jacobson and Myrna Guzman on defense, Erin Cunningham and Krystal Gualco as goalies, and Sara Para as leading scorer), Spain is excited about some new and returning prospects for the 2003 season.

He foresees team captain Kelly Huarte and Gina “The Hammer” Attkinson as being two of this year’s strong players. Both players are positioned as the back defense, adding to the strong defense that we can expect to see this season. Spain said, “This year is the best defense that we have ever had.”

The Yuba College Women’s Soccer Team had their first shot at playing time during the sixth Annual 49er Invitational on Aug. 30- 31. Although the team lost the championship for the first time in six years, Spain continues to have big plans for the 2003 women’s soccer team. He predicts this season to bring “a trip to the final four.”

After seeing all of the teams compete during the invitational, Spain has spotted the teams that he feels will bring Yuba the greatest challenge, identifying the traditional foes of Santa Rosa College, American River College and Sierra College.

Yuba will begin an exciting series of home games by playing Diablo College on Tuesday, September 30, followed by a game on Friday, October 3, and ending with a game on Tuesday, November 7, against the tough Sierra College team.