Lady Cougars See Win Streak Halted by Santa Barbara
By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information
College of the Canyons dropped a 2-0 result Tuesday afternoon at the Cougar Soccer Field to visiting Santa Barbara City College to see its three-game win streak come to a close.
Canyons (3-2) was coming off an 11-day hiatus after its scheduled road match at San Bernardo Valley College on Sept. 13 postponed due to wildfires in the area.
The Vaqueros (4-2) struck first in the 20th minute with a rebound shot by forward Maddison Dodson off a corner kick that made its way past COC goalkeeper Hayley Bench.
Bench (3-1) started in goal for the Cougars allowing the one score and claiming two saves before Amanda Hurlimann took over for the second half.
Canyons worked for several quality opportunities throughout the match, but couldn't quite find the back of the net. Stopping them was Santa Barbara goalkeeper Anna Kirk.
Kirk made several paramount saves throughout her 90 minutes to keep the Vaqueros in the lead, closing out the game with 10 total saves on as many shots.
The Cougars continued to fight, but a brief let down in the 53rd minute gave way to another Santa Barbara goal. This time it was Vaquero forward Kacey Renga striking the ball past Hurlimann to double the lead. Hurlimann finished the night recording the one goal against and two saves in her 45 minutes between the posts.
COC sophomore Victoria Martinez made a couple of runs through the Vaqueros' backline to land two shots. Sophomore Felicia Marquez found two of her own and Ashley Striegel worked for the most shots on the night with four. Several other Cougars threatened to equalize but were denied by Kirk.
Canyons will have another week off before hosting Allan Hancock College on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at the Cougar Soccer Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
—Photo by Carla Sophia Velasco/COC Sports Information