COC's season ends in heartbreak

By Mason Nesbitt, Signal Staff Writer

College of the Canyons women's soccer head coach Justin Lundin said earlier this season his teams' curse is the second round of the state playoffs. It's hard to argue with him after Canyons lost 3-3 (3-1 penalty kicks) to Cypress College in the second round of the California Community College Athletic Association Women's Soccer SoCal Regional.

It's the fourth straight year COC has lost in the second round.

"It's frustrating — it really is," Cougars forward Marissa Kneisel said of the game. "(But) anything can happen with penalty kicks."

It looked like the Cougars (16-3-3) might get over the hump when Kneisel broke away from two defenders and scored with less than 30 seconds left in the game's second overtime to tie the score 3-3.

In penalty kicks, Cypress (15-3-4) and Canyons exchanged scores and then Canyons' Katelyn Martinez made a stop. But Elizabeth Sanchez and Elizabeth Gutierrez scored for Cypress, and the Cougars had their next three shots turned away.

"What a battle," said Cypress head coach Erick Hurtarte.

It was improbable the game even went to penalty kicks, though.

Canyons, already playing without starting defender Kathryn Pulido who tore her ACL this month, lost defender Elise Wassner to a foot injury in the first half and midfielder Astrid Perez to a head injury in the second. Then it lost midfielder Natalie Mitchell to an ejection after two yellow cards.

The Cougars played with only 10 players from the 75th minute on.

Canyons Lucy Maino committed a hand ball in the Cougars' box in the 49th minute — allotting Kendra Serrano a penalty kick and Cypress a 1-0 lead.

Canyons struggled on offense for most of the game. Lundin countered Cypress' pressing style by keeping extra defenders back and leaving Kneisel mostly on an island.

But in the 55th minute, Canyons Kelsey Sherry drew a foul in the box and Brooklynn Stevens tied the game 1-1 on a penalty kick.

Neither team scored again until late in the first overtime.

In the 103rd minute, the ball bounced off a Cypress defender outside the Chargers' box, and Kneisel drilled it off the bounce for what looked to be the game-winning goal.

Less than two minutes later Serrano answered for Cypress on a free kick from roughly 30 yards out.

She scored again in the second overtime, the 111th minute, on another free kick from nearly the same distance. She hadn't scored a goal all year coming into the game.

"Those should never go in," Lundin said.

The Cougars could hardly get the ball across midfield until Kneisel put the tieing goal away.

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photo by Katharine Lotze