Owls Dip Into the “Cookie” Jar

Glendora, CA - Trailing 1-0 at the break and looking lifeless through large portions of the first half, the Citrus College Women's Soccer team dug deep into the "cookie" jar on Tuesday evening to find an answer for visiting Victor Valley College. Sophomore Jaline Miranda aka "Cookie", sent two picturesque balls off corner kicks towards the opposing goal in the second half. One found the toe of a teammate and the other the back of the net as Citrus won 2-1.

 Things got off to an inauspicious start for Citrus as they looked lethargic during the first 45 minutes of play. That slow start came back to haunt the Owls late as they were whistled in the 41st minute for a foul near the top of the box, on a play that was ultimately ruled a penalty shot by the center official. With a solid opportunity at their fingertips, the Rams made the most of it and buried it to take a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute.

Needing a spark in the second half, Citrus finally began to show signs of life, outshooting Victor Valley by a margin of 8-3, after being outshot 2-8 in the first half. The Owls also earned two corners to the Rams' one in the final 45 minutes and both of those proved to be extremely pivotal to the Owls' success.

The first of the two would come just under 10 minutes into the second period, when Miranda lined up and sent a ball deep into the right hand corner of the box. There with no one around her or the ball, freshman Jacqueline Mejia quietly toed the ball into the box knotting the game up at one goal a piece. Three minutes later, a second corner would be earned by the Owls and this time, Miranda sent another beauty towards the goal. On this occasion, the ball didn't need to touch anyone as it slid into the back of the net on it's own to give Citrus it's 2-1 lead. 

With the win, Citrus improves to 10-6 on the year and 3-1 in WSC East play. The Owls will take a break from action this Friday before resuming the second half of conference play next Tuesday when they travel to Bakersfield College for a 5:00 PM showdown with the Renegades.