The Bear Cubs women’s soccer team struggled through a long tough season dealing with two ACL injuries, concussions and other short-term injuries, plus a couple of players who decided to walk away from the team. Despite the hardships SRJC managed to earn second in the Big 8 Conference.
The Bear Cubs’ trouble began early when captain Holle Depina suffered a season-ending knee injury two games into the season against defending state champion Cerritos College, at Consumnes River College.
Depina put up superb numbers against Lassen College, scoring two goals and assisting two more contributing to the 8-0 victory. Her unfortunate injury occurred in minute 44 after playing a solid half creating multiple dangerous opportunities against Cerritos and setting the high-tempo pace. Within the same minute of the injury Cerritos broke free and scored for a 1-0 lead at the half.
Despite a short-lived postseason, the Bear Cubs had notable performances, battling with next-to-no available substitutes. The lack of a deep bench resulted in several players playing 90-plus minutes every game.
“I thought the season was mediocre,” said Ana Guerrero. “Definitely not our best.”
SRJC had a huge 2-1 victory against City of San Francisco, an always solid and high ranked team.
The best two performances of the Bear Cubs occurred against rivals and Big 8 Conference victors, Modesto College. Down 2-0, 57 minutes into the match, the Bear Cubs rallied and managed to come back for a 2-2 tie against a then unbeaten or tied MJC. Both Bear Cub goals came within 10 minutes of each other by freshman Natalia Picano, attacking MJC and testing the goalkeeper. Round two against MJC proved to be just as exciting. SRJC came out with an attack mentality, putting one away in the first 15 minutes for a 1-0 home victory against the only undefeated team in the state.
Picano and Kayleen Belda led the Bear Cubs in individual stats points. Belda led the team with a total of 20 points for seven goals and six assists. Picano contributed with nine goals and one assist for a total of 19.
Although it was a rocky season with highs and lows, SRJC managed to place second in the Big 8 Conference with a record of 9-3-2 and 4 regionally with an overall record of 13-6-2.
The Bear Cubs have a good core group returning next fall and they will be hungry for redemption. SRJC plans on laying the groundwork in the beginning of spring for preparation of the fall 2015 season.
“The season didn’t end quite the way we expected, but we overachieved throughout the regular season, said head coach Tracy Hamn. “I’m proud of our performance. We need to focus on being more consistent in terms of effort and commitment this spring to prepare for Fall.”