On Friday, the Raiders hosted Imperial Valley for the first game of the 2021 season, playing the first game since 2019 after the cancellation of their last season.

The Raiders left no time to reminisce on previous seasons as they burst into the game looking to reclaim their home field, well in theory. The season opener was played at Arroyo Vista Community Park, due to construction to the Moorpark College soccer fields. The Raiders are expected to return to their home field after Sept. 7.

With their home(ish) advantage the Raiders blitzed up the field letting nearly nothing behind them except their own defenses. After a 22 minute unrelenting attack, Imperial Valley’s defenses were breached when a header from freshman Riley Tripp reached the back of the net giving the Raiders an early advantage at 1-0.

“I’ve always been known for headers on all my teams,” said Tripp, who scored two goals from headers in Friday’s game. “And it’s always been a thing in corner cases like ‘Tripp go in on the header, Tripp the header.’ I definitely lost track of the ball on both those headers, though. It was kind of like it was in the air one second and it was off in the goal the next.”

Following a quick water break in the sweltering 84 degree heat, the Raiders continued their barrage. However, the tightened Imperial Valley defenses held their own till the end of the half.

Slightly adjusting their tactics, the Raiders came out of half-time quickly and aggressively; however, they were missing one key element- precision. Attempting to take out Imperial Valley from afar, the Raiders began shooting longer distance shots.

“If we are going to take those long time shots, we need to make sure that we’re not leaning so far back and sending it over, but leaning forward, hitting them straight or hard, or hitting them hard enough where it either ricochets off the goalie or off the people so we can get it in,” said Tripp.

After 32 scoreless minutes, the back of Imperial Valley’s net saw some action. A goal from third-year Raider Lillian Nice brought the score to 2-0 and was then quickly followed by yet another headbutt goal four minutes later from Tripp bringing the score to 3-0.

Imperial Valley’s defense attempted to rally, saving seven shots in the game, but was unsuccessful to stop the Raider’s offensive attack as Moorpark’s left-back, freshman Skylar Rusch, scored the 4th and final goal of the game at the 67th minute.

Rusch, who like many of her peers is new to the Raiders’ team, gave a recap of the Raiders’ strategy that gave the girls the 4-0 win in their first game of the season.

“Since it’s my first year here, and because it’s our first game, I didn’t want to let anyone down,” expressed Rusch. “I think we did well, keeping possession of the ball and making runs in behind and just moving around the ball.”

The Raiders’ defense barely let anything past their line, despite Imperial Valley’s relentless efforts. Moorpark had zero saves, as no shots were attempted, leaving the goalies to rally and inspire their team from behind.

Sharing in the Raiders’ excitement, Head Coach Kai Werring seemed happy with the team’s efforts and performance.

“The team played terrifically,” said Werring. “We did everything that we’ve been trying to do in practice and bring it to the game, so I couldn’t be more pleased.”

The Raiders will host Cerro Coso at Arroyo Vista Community park on Tuesday, Aug 31.