The Moorpark Raiders Women’s Soccer team locked up a second consecutive Western State Conference title by defeating the Ventura Pirates 2-0.
Moorpark needs to either win or tie in their regular season finale against Santa Barbara on Friday to take sole possession of the championship. However, a Raider loss coupled with a Ventura win would give both colleges a share of the title.
Both the Pirates and the Raiders entered the game as co-leaders in their division with neither college being beat in conference play. The Raiders struck first on a 5th minute goal by Taylor Biehl with Breanna Pilkington providing the assist. The goal gave Biehl twelve on the season, which is a team high.
The early score took the pressure off and allowed Moorpark to focus on stopping the Pirate’s high powered offense. As the game continued, the Raiders began committing careless errors that let Ventura have multiple shots at the goal. Luckily, the back line held until halftime, which gave the team a chance to regroup.
“Once we scored the first goal, we started playing down to their level, but after the halftime talk we picked it up,” said 18-year-old, forward, Maddie Murray.
In the second half, the women leaned on their defense and held Ventura scoreless. The Pirates were gassed as the game waned on, a problem that stems from less depth, with Ventura only using three substitutions the whole game. Murray would put the game away with a 74th minute goal on a pass from Biehl.
After the game, Coach Ruiz kept reiterating his happiness for the women and knows no other group is more deserving.
“I’m very excited for my team, they’ve worked really hard this whole year and are now believing. As a coach, especially in the beginning, the team always questions you. And during times like this, they believe in what we’ve done.”
Playoff seeding has yet to be announced, but one more win almost guarantees a home playoff game, which would be tremendous for the program. The team struggled in the years leading up to Ruiz’s hire, but his first two years as coach have shown a rebirth of women’s soccer at Moorpark.
“Last year some people thought we were lucky. This goes to show you the opposite. We’re changing this program around and heading in the right direction.”
