by Dennis McCall
Taft Midway Driller

Taft College controlled the tempo as the Cougars ran past East Los Angeles today for a 3-0 non-conference soccer victory.

The Cougars have less than 24 hours to savor the victory that improves their non-conference record to 5-1-1 because they have another home match Saturday when Cuesta College comes to town.  Kickoff is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. on the Tenth and San Emidio field.

Team leader Celia Rangel got things going against East L.A. with a goal in the 34th minute.  Cristina Salazar was credited with the assist.

It stayed that way until the first minute of the second half when the same combination hooked up again with a goal that stunned the Huskies.  This time it was Rangel providing the assist and Salazar getting the goal.

The Cougars kept up the pressure until freshman forward Valaria Garcia took a perfect pass from Salazar in front of the ELA goal moments after a corner kick.  Garcia's header into the center of the net in the 67th minute capped the scoring.

TC's quickness and speed was too much for the Huskies who rarely threatened the Cougar net.

The going will get a lot tougher for Taft next Tuesday when the Cougars head to Rancho Cucamonga to take on state powerhouse Chaffey College.