Women’s soccer scores three penalty kicks to win third round of regionals

LBCC women’s soccer goalkeeper Mary Valenzuela blocked the last penalty kick to secure the win against Mt. San Antonio College after a 1-1 tied game that went past overtime during the third round of regionals on Nov. 25.

The Vikings hit their stride out of the gate, keeping control of the ball for most of the first half and scored the first goal of the game.

Vikings midfielder Sky Demelo scored the first goal continuing her five game streak of scoring the first goal of the game in their matches.

The goal came after she drew the first foul in the first five minutes of the game, which resulted in a faulty free kick from Mt. SAC that Demelo managed to take control of when the ball became in play again.

“It felt amazing, I really wanted it because I was the one who drew the foul,” Demelo said.

The first half was filled with positives for the Vikings, but it was a rocky start for Mt. SAC with defender Emma Malana and midfielder Yuliana Jimenez being taken out of the game due to leg and knee injuries.

However, Mt. SAC goalkeeper Zanette Gonzalez prevented many of the Vikings’ attempts to score, including catching three free kicks. 

Midfielder Nadine Padilla scored the first and only goal for Mt. SAC with seven minutes left in the first half.

The second half was rather unremarkable as neither scored a goal, but both goalkeepers were tasked with many near goals.

Viking midfielders Laila Alfadhiel and Maya Sanda were the stars of the second half, securing the ball for most of the game, but were unable to score due to Gonzalez’ blocks.

After the second half and both overtime halves had passed, the game was to be decided by penalty kicks.

After the Mt. SAC goalkeeper failed to block three of the Vikings’ PKs, Viking goalkeeper Mary Valenzuela blocked both PKs attempted by Mt. SAC to break the 1-1 tie.

Valenzuela knew the win was imminent after they scored.

“I feel like we had the win when we made that first shot…I knew we had it,” Valenzuela said. 

“We’ve got to celebrate this win tonight, tomorrow we have to recover because it took everything from us in these 120 minutes,” said Coach Nunez.

Nunez noted that they are fully prepared and ready for anything in the upcoming game, “We took care of business early on in regionals but we really had to fight in this one so we’ve experienced a bit of everything”.

The Vikings will be facing Santiago Canyon at an away game on Saturday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. for the fourth and final Southern regional finals matchup.

This win for the Vikings sent them to the Southern regional finals, where they lost 4-2 against Santiago Canyon on  Saturday.