Led by top-ranked twin sisters Cara and Laruen Curtin, the SRJC women’s soccer team remains unbeaten at home despite a penalty ridden game against the Modesto Junior College Pirates on Oct. 21. The Lady Bear Cubs suffered their first and only loss earlier this season at Modesto 2-nil.
“They [Modesto] have one very, very good player on their team, a foward,” head coach Luke Oberkirch said. “They’re a well-rounded team. Once they beat us they went on a little bit of a downslide, where after we lost, we went on a upswing.”
The latest game was a physical grudge match that ended in a 1-1 tie as the Pirates were able to come from behind and score a late corner kick goal. Ten minutes into the beginning of the match freshman defender Alex Coffaney was able to find forward Cara Curtin for an assist with Curtin finishing with a spectacular goal from 50 yards out to take the lead 1-nil.
However, that is the most action Curtin saw the entire match due to her aggressive tactics. With 20 minutes to go in the first-half Curtin and an opposing Modesto defender engaged into an embarrasing tussle. Curtin received a red card and was forced out of the match. “She lost her composure and deserved a red card,” Oberkirch said.
In the team’s last home game on Oct. 14, the team exhibited its home field dominance against the Sacramento City College Panthers crushing them 5-nil behind an impressive display from Lady Bear Cub forwards.
Cara and her twin sister Lauren have been a force to be reckoned with this season and are the undisputed top siblings competing in California community college soccer. Cara is currently ranked first in the state in points, which is a combination of goals and assists, with 44 and is second in the state in goals with 18. Meanwhile, Lauren is 18 in the state with 20 points and is projected to end the season in the top 10.
Twice this season the Curtins have combined for five goals and at least one sister has scored in 10 of the 12 games played this season. Since Cara plays forward she sees more offensive action scoring 18 goals and earning eight assists, while Lauren at midfield has managed to score nine goals and find two assists.
“I actually want her to score, I feel bad when I score all the goals and not her. Were not that competitive with each other,” Cara said. Both the sisters are sophmores and their prospects for transferring next year are bright.
“Their options are open at this point. They can run track and play soccer at a school if they wanted to,” Oberkirch said. The Curtins were both All-League in cross country and track while attending Maria Carillo High School.
Currently, the Lady Bear Cubs are in a battle with Diablo Valley to control the Big 8 conference. Diablo Valley has an overall record of 11-1-1 while Santa Rosa is at 9-1-2. The teams will face each other again at 1 p.m. Nov. 4 in Santa Rosa.
According to California Community Soccer News, Santa Rosa is ranked not only number one with a power rank of 2.56 in the conference and region, but the entire state based on its strength of schedule. In the latest National Soccer Coaches Association poll on Oct. 18, Santa Rosa was ranked number 7 in the country.
Whatever this season has in store for the Lady Bear Cubs it will be a memorable one for first-year coach Oberkirch. “They don’t like to lose; I found that out real quick,” Oberkirch said. He comes to SRJC with an impressive resume spending 15 years at Sonoma State University as the women’s soccer head coach with a overall record of 189-97-33 and earning two trips to the NCAA tournament.