A thrilling soccer game took place on Friday night between the Lady Vaquero’s and the Bakersfield College Renegade’s, which ended in a 1-1 tie.

The Vaqueros, playing in a 4-4-2 formation, where well matched with the Renegade’s, and it seemed like they were more talented.

In the first half, the Vaqs and Renegades battled continuously, making numerous goal attempts, though both team goalies managed to keep the ball from entering the net.

Around 25 minutes into the first half, a Bakersfield player suffered what looked like a serious injury, as she twisted her ankle, tumbling to the ground. She had to be carried off the field by her arms and feet, delaying the game for six or seven minutes.

The end of the first half produced the same results as the beginning of the game, with the Vaqs and Renegades running back and forth, not giving up any goals.

With 15 minutes left in the first, Bakersfield gave the Lady Vaq’s a scare as they nearly scored, though an impressive dive by Glendale goal keeper Esther Rodriguez, kept the ball from scoring.

With six minutes left in the half, GCC gave the same scare to Bakersfield, nearly scoring as the ball struck the goal post.

“We’re getting better. We need to communicate a little more though,” said right defender Melisa Sanchez during the half.

As the beginning of the second half began both teams began to play with more fierceness as they became more desperate for a goal.

At 37 minutes into the second half, the Vaqs unfortunately left a small window of opportunity open for the Renegade’s as they barely managed to score.

With the crowd up on their feet, cheering on the Vaquero’s, Glendale began to plan its revenge.

Without giving up, during the last five minutes of the game the Lady Vaqs managed to score a beautiful goal.

“We should’ve won,” said team captain and sweeper Alyssa Meredith. “But we managed to step it up for once.”

“We had more intensity than before. We weren’t going to let them knock us around,” added Meredith.

The Vaquero’s played vigorously throughout the game, with more aggressiveness than the opposing team. The goal scored by the Renegade’s was more luck than anything, since the Vaq’s were in control of the ball for most of the game.

“They were at our level. They got lucky on their goal,” team captain Sharis Harootan said when asked about Bakersfield’s level of skill.

The Vaqs lacked communication on the field. “Were still not 100 percent with each other,” said Harootan.

“It was a great game. [There was] a lot of determination and a lot of fighting. It’s home field advantage,” Coach Jorge Mena said.
The following game will be against Santa Monica College on Friday night.