
Cuesta Women's Soccer bounced back from a one-goal deficit to earn its first Western State Conference victory since November 22, 2022, with a win over Oxnard, 5-1. The Cougars hosted Oxnard out at the "Wilson Expanse" and both teams endured a scoreless first half, however just ten minutes into the second half the Condors took the lead on Anahi Oneto's goal, and it set off a firestorm. That initial tally woke up a Cuesta offense that had scored only once in the previous four games. Freshman Araya Dunbarr opened the scoring from 20-feet out to tie the game and the rest of the team caught the fever. Two minutes later, fellow Freshman Mikayla Schad netted the eventual game-winner, but the Cougars were rolling, and Oxnard could not stop them. All-WSC Midfielder Hailey Hallford (pict-L) and Freshman Forward Payton Lapp (pict-R)orchestrated two of the Cougars' next three goals. Hallford assisted on Lapp's game clinching goal, and, after Lapp assisted on a goal by Taylor Lynch, Hallford returned for a solo goal of her own. To end the day, Star Freshman Oneal Hunt scored the Cougars' final goal with just under ten minutes left in the contest to keep herself atop the team's season scoring ledger. Hunt owns the team lead with eight total points on the season, which, after her late goal, put her two points ahead of both Lapp and Lynch. The Cougars 15 goals this season is more than they scored in both 2022 and 2023 combined and just one goal behind their scoring total for the 2021 season. However, this year's Cuesta team has a long way to go before reaching the school scoring record, which was set in 2005, when the Cougars scored 73 goals in 22 games. Cuesta is now 4-3-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in WSC play.
The Cuesta Kickers return to action next Tuesday (4 PM), when they host #20 Ventura for a Western State Conference game.