Eagles Soccer Advances With Play-Off Opening Win

The MSJC soccer team advanced to the next round of the 3C2A play-offs on Thursday with a 2-1 win over El Camino.  (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)
The MSJC soccer team advanced to the next round of the 3C2A play-offs on Thursday with a 2-1 win over El Camino. (Jerry Lee Palad-MSJC)

The MSJC soccer team picked up an opening round 3C2A play-off victory on Thursday night at HCN Bank Stadium as they defeated El Camino 2-1.

The Eagles and the Warriors battled through a defensive first half, with neither team being able to score.  In the second half MSJC finally broke through in the 53rd minute when Karyme Mendoza scored with an assist from Aaliyah Sims to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.  MSJC pushed the lead to 2-0 in the 74th minute when Mendoza scored again, this time on a penalty kick.  El Camino sccored their only goal of the match off a corner kick in the 88th minute to give them a fighting chance, but they didn't really threaten again as time expired and the Eagles secured the victory.

Ashlyn Goade started in goal for MSJC and made 2 saves as she played the match's first 42 minutes, Daisy Reyes played the final 48 and also made a pair of saves.  All-IEAC defender Addisyn Mangrum also had a huge impact on the victory with her play.

The Eagles improved to 16-2-2 on the season with the win and advance to the next round where they will take on league rival Chaffey on Saturday at 2 pm.  Saturday's match at Chaffey will be the two teams third match up of the season, Chaffey defeated the Eagles 1-0 in their first match up and the two played to a draw in their second contest.