Late Charge Not Enough for Owls in Opener

Glendora, CA - Over the course of the first 70 minutes during Citrus College Women's Soccer season opening match-up with visiting San Diego Mesa College, the Owls looked like they were playing their first game of the 2016 season. Citrus would shake it off over the final 20 minutes, but their late charge wasn't enough as they fell 2-1 to the Olympians.

 San Diego Mesa got a golden opportunity from the Owls in the opening five minutes, when a miss-kick on a clearance, gave the Olympians the ball back at the top of the Citrus goal box. Mesa took advantage of the miscue and popped a shot over keeper Britni Armas' head to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Olympians would strike again 20 minutes later, when a beautiful run by sophomore Alexia Orenday ended with her clanking the ball off the right post and just across the goal line to give San Diego Mesa a 2-0 lead.

In the opening frame it was more or less all Mesa, as they out-shot the Owls 6-0, and continued to pound the ball deep into Citrus territory usually after an Owl turnover due to a lack of strong passes.

The second half started out much like the first half played out, but Citrus battled and eventually began to get things right. The Owls would turn the tables on Mesa out-shooting the Olympians 4-1. As Citrus gained confidence on the ball, it would pay off late when a solid run by freshman Alejandra Vargas saw her fight off one defender to send a good ball into the box.

The ball found the feet of freshman Danielle Lagrave who shielded herself from a defender and flicked the ball over the charging keeper to make it 2-1 early in second half stoppage time. Unfortunately that was it for the Owls, as they came up shy in their first foray into 2016.

With the loss, Citrus drops to an early 0-1. The Owls will face another tough test on Tuesday when it hits the road for the first time in 2016, to take on perennial contender San Bernardino Valley College for a 4:00 PM tilt in the Inland Empire.