The Moorpark College women’s soccer team won a thriller against Taft College on a last minute, game winning goal by freshman midfielder, Amanda King, breaking a 1-1 tie and bringing the Raiders a 5-3-3 record this season.

The women’s soccer team seems to have really hit their stride, after not winning any of their first four games, they have now won 5 of the last 7 and are on a 3 game win streak. Prior to the Tuesday, Oct. 11 conference play, Coach Ruiz was excited about the team’s potential.

“We got some kids back from injuries and kids are starting to push a little bit more.” Ruiz said. “I feel like we start 0-0 again and conference is what matters. It’ll be tough, we still have a long season to go.”

Although, Ruiz appreciates his team’s recent success, he sees room for improvement and was a tad disappointed by the their first half performance against Taft. His frustration stems from the Raiders inability to capitalize, even though they controlled most of the possessions.

The Moorpark College women dominated to beginning of the game, but were scoreless until the 22nd minute when freshman forward Taylor Biehl scored on a penalty kick. Then late in the first half, a careless error allowed Taft to tie the game on a header as the Raiders failed to follow their runners.

Continuing in to the second half, however, Raider plays exerted dominance, resulting in multiple shot attempts.

According to 20-year-old Nursing major and captain of the team Kelsea Matthews, Moorpark demonstrated a better effort after halftime.

“We came out with a lot of energy in the second half and were determined to score and in the end our hard work paid off.”

The team hoped to extend their win streak in an away game against Oxnard College on Oct. 11. Team captain Matthews believes the team has found a winning formula and wants them to keep it going during the second half of their schedule.

“The team is starting to click more and everyone is dedicated to the game plan. We are sticking together and playing for each other.”