Marino & Aguila Combo Seals the Win for Women’s Soccer
The dynamic sophomore duo of Alyssa Marino and Samantha Aguila proved to be the difference for the Santiago Canyon College women's soccer team on Friday afternoon, as the Hawks defeated Irvine Valley College, 1-0.
The decisive play came in the 15th minute, when Aguila raced down the far side of the field and spotted Marino making a run on the near side. Aguila delivered a perfectly timed pass into the box, where Marino controlled the ball and calmly slotted it past the goalkeeper to give SCC an early 1-0 lead. That goal would stand as the game-winner, as the Hawks never looked back.
Despite firing off 27 shots to IVC's five, the Hawks only managed one goal. Marino had four attempts on goal, while sophomore Gigi Bruno led the team with six shots. Aguila added five attempts of her own.
The Hawks' defense, anchored by sophomores Jordyn Lamastra and Brisa Mariscal, along with freshman Beatriz Perez, was stifling. They kept the Lasers off the scoreboard and didn't allow a single shot on goal in the first half.
Freshman goalkeeper Mikayla Worcester earned the win with a solid performance, playing the full 90 minutes and making four saves— all of which came in the second half.
With the victory, the Hawks improve to 11-3-5 overall and 8-1-4 in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC). They enter the final week of the season with two tough matchups remaining against top-ranked Cypress and Orange Coast, currently sitting third in the conference standings.