Defender Jasmine Jones broke a 3-3 tie in the final minutes of regulation and Lacey Monack put the game out of reach with her second goal to give the San Lorenzo Valley girls soccer team a 5-3 win over St. Francis High on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
The Cougars evened their record in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League to 2-2-1 heading into the second half of the season, which puts the team in position for a bid to the Central Coast Section playoffs.
However, the Cougars received a scare from the winless Sharks (0-5 SCCAL).
After two quick goals by St. Francis — the first on a corner kick by Lulu Alvarez that sailed past Cougar goalie Saree Walker, and the second, a blast from Monica Arguello on the very next possession — SLV found itself down 2-0.
“In the first half, we came out asleep and a little nonchalant,” head coach Heidi Romswinckel-Guise said. “(The girls) got a wakeup call at halftime.”
The Cougars finally broke through when Monack was tackled from behind inside the goal box and drilled a top-shelf penalty kick past the St. Francis keeper.
St. Francis responded by scoring its third goal of the half on a breakaway by Heather Barigian.
SLV, determined to keep the game close, scored on a free kick by Chellia Clendon from 30 yards out that, with backspin, floated over the keeper’s hands.
After a long halftime meeting, the Cougars returned with a vengeance, controlling the ball in the Sharks’ zone and attacking at every chance. On one play, Monack darted up the left side and crossed a pass to Ali Wittman, who rolled a shot past the Sharks’ keeper. However, the goalie turned and pounced on the ball before it crossed the plane of the goal.
In the 68th minute, with the Cougars still down a goal, forward Chere Garcia drilled a low shot past the diving goalie to tie the game at 3-3.
Then, as the game wound down, Jones took a short pass from Haley Eggleston and popped the ball over the keeper for the winning goal.
Jones had moved to forward from her normal position on defense specifically to shoot the ball.
“Being down always makes people want to fight harder,” Jones said.
Monack scored on a breakaway in the last minute to make the score 5-3 in the Cougars’ favor.
The Cougars will host Aptos at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, as they start their second round of league games with high expectations.
“We know what the other teams are like now,” Jones said. “We’re going to play hard and see what happens.”
Romswinckel-Guise said she’s confident in her team’s ability and is excited for the rest of the season.
“If we play well and we’re amped up every single game, we’re going to surprise people,” she said.
