The Moorpark College Women’s Soccer team faced Oxnard college away in a matchup that left both teams wanting more as they walked away with a 1-1 draw.
Moorpark entered the away game looking to improve its 5-7-1 record against one of their sister schools, Oxnard College. The last time the Moorpark faced a district rival, the team fell to Ventura 3-1.
Moorpark coach Kai Werring talked about the excitement of the match and reflected on the final score in the sister-school rivalry.
“It’s always a good competition against them, you know,” said Werring. “They’re well organized, and it’s always like a fun game. So the rivalry, you know, is what it is, but it makes it very exciting. We played a great game with possession, we created numerous chances and it was just very unfortunate that we couldn’t get the result that I believe we deserved.”
The match began equally balanced between the two teams with the center of the field seeing the ball more than the nets. Despite multiple shots from each side, the scoreboard saw no movement in the first half.
In the 76th minute, one of the nets finally saw action as Oxnard’s Angela Baltazar scored an unassisted goal after a tough fight near the net, putting Oxnard in the lead 1-0.
Oxnard didn’t have the lead for long as six minutes later Moorpark was able to rebound. Defender Sydney Zeto scored after a scuttle bringing the score to an even 1-1.
Zeto explained the moments leading up to her score.
“I noticed that they only had one forward up top, and I noticed that space there open so I just went in,” Zeto said. “I got the yell for my coach to go more in and then I saw the ball bounce a few times, and I thought, ‘well why not?’ I just shot it, and luckily it went in.”
Oxnard nearly had a chance to retake the lead as an aggressive offensive push left Moorpark’s net wide open for a shot. Oxnard attempted to take advantage of the opening, but forward Riley Tripp blocked the ball.
Tripp talked about her mindset and preparations to cover the goal from Oxnard’s aggressive attack.
“Whenever there’s a kick I always follow behind the keeper just in case anything might happen, just especially on a 1-1 game, you really don’t want to give that up,” Tripp explained.
Moorpark won its next match against Allan Hancock College on Oct. 15 and lost against Santa Barbara City College on Oct. 19 bringing its record to 6-8-2. Moorpark will next play LA Peirce College on Friday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m.
