Knockout Ponce

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Women's Soccer team picked up its fifth straight home opening win on Thursday with a 1-0 victory over visiting Oxnard College. It was freshman Natalia Ponce who delivered the knockout blow for Citrus with a strike in the 33rd minute.

The Owls dominated the ball from the fist touch. Citrus held Oxnard to just four total shots, including just one in the first half. Citrus continued to pressure the Condors but just couldn't seem to find the right opportunity throughout much of the first half until just past the midway point.

Citrus best chance came just past the 32nd minute in a counter attack. Sophomore keeper Leslie Grande launched the ball way over the charging Condor attack and it fell at the feet of freshman Rebekah Evans he found herself clear of the Oxnard defense with only their keeper to beat.

Evans sent a nice ball in the box but the keeper came out of the goal and made a great play on it. Fortunately for Citrus, Ponce was trailing not too far behind Evans. With the keeper now out of the goal, and the ball bouncing back towards her Ponce, calmly collected herself and fired the ball back at the goal. This time Citrus would not be denied as Ponce's shot ripped the cords in the middle upper half of the goal to put Citrus up 1-0.

The Owls continued to control the tempo of the contest throughout the match but failed to capitalize on a number of promising opportunities. Citrus took a whopping six corner kicks in each half without conceding a single corner to the Condors throughout the entirety of the game. Still Oxnard showed some fight down the stretch, but Citrus held firm and hung on to the 1-0 victory.

With the win, Citrus improves to 2-1-2 on the year. The Owls will be back at home Tuesday night when they take on San Bernardino Valley College. The match is set for a 6:00 PM start.