The Lady Vaqs beat confident Bakersfield 2-1 at Sartoris Field Friday night, in a soccer game that was played aggressively from the Renegades’ side and with caution from Glendale’s side.
“They were confident,” said Glendale team captain Jasmine Aguirre. “They came with the mentality that they thought they were going to beat us again, but we proved them wrong,”
“Bakersfield was on full pressure, but we just happened to score in the first half,” said Coach Jorge Mena. “We played at the intensity that benefits us.”
Amy Rosales from Glendale introduced the game with the first goal in minute 39. Being right in front of the goal, after a few kicks and blocks from both teams, she eventually kicked it in, out of the reach of the goalie.
From this point on, Glendale knew they stood a chance. The Lady Vaqs made smooth passes in the midfield, slowly moving the ball forward. Left midfielder Aguirre received good passes and passed them up front to get closer to the net, but Bakersfield was first to the ball.
In minute 16, as Aguirre was running down the sideline, she shot the ball about 20 yards away and scored, putting Glendale up 2-0. The Lady Vaqs held their breaths as soon as they saw that the ball had hit the far-post corner, but because of the angle that was shot from, the ball bounced inward. Once the ball passed the goal line, Glendale was able to breathe again.
After the second goal, The Lady Renegades realized it had to change the strategy it was using. They began to move quicker and intercepted a few passes that were directed to the outside midfielders. The Lady Renegades are already an aggressive team, but they brought their whole team to the ball, being able to win the ball on one-on-one play from Glendale.
Bakersfield’s forwards attacked the Lady Vaqs’ defense quickly, and once they had control of the ball, they were unstoppable. They got various shots, but they were either off the goal or Esther Rodriguez, the goalie, was on her tip-toes catching the ball or diving for it.
The end of the first half and the majority of the second half was played on Glendale’s side of the field. In minute 29, Breyona Allen from the Lady Renegades scored, bringing the score to 2-1.
After their first shot, Bakersfield really started working to at least tie the game. They tried making passes to move in front of the goal but the Lady Vaqs defense was like a wall. Glendale wouldn’t let them through nor shoot. Seeing that this technique wasn’t working, Bakersfield started to take long shots. The ball got close to the goal, but it either went over the goal or Rodriguez would catch the ball.
Near the end of the game, Bakersfield focused on taking the ball aggressively. On the sideline, Aguirre jumped along with a player from Bakersfield to head the ball; at the moment of interaction, Bakersfield’s player hit Aguirre’s head which caused her to fall.
Her instinct told her to get up and defend herself, as she was in front of the other player’s face, but her thought process told her that this was “unintelligent and it would only hurt the team, so I walked away,” Aguirre said.
After a game full of adrenaline, the referee blew the whistle and Glendale cheered after their victory.
“It was a really good game, a tough game. I am really excited we beat them,” said sophomore Natalie Diaz.
The win against Bakersfield improved Glendale’s record in the Western State Conference to 4-7-3. Glendale plays at home against Santa Monica College Friday at 7 p.m.