Coyotes “kick” into gear

CSUSB women’s soccer have set a school-record with six consecutive victories, the longest winning streak in CSUSB women’s soccer history.

The coyotes hit a bit of bad luck at the beginning, losing to schools like Dominguez Hills, UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona. In conference, five out of the six games resulted in losses for the ‘Yotes. The team certainly turned it around after a 4-0 defeat against UC San Diego. Since then, the Lady Coyotes have been unbeatable, not losing a single game.

“We expect to win our last four games and make the playoffs,” said head coach Travis Clarke.

Based on the streak the team is on now, it is quite possible that those expectations are not too high.

On Oct. 16, the Coyotes played against Cal State Los Angeles (CSULA), a team that has set their own winning streaks. Prior to that game, the Golden Eagles had a nine game win streak and had not lost a game since September.

When the Coyotes last met with CSULA., the Golden Eagles took the win 2-0. This time around with a new outlook and a more unified team, the women stopped CSULA’s winning streak by continuing their own six-game win streak with a 2-0 shutout.

Freshman Emily Mardon and junior Jani Carmona both scored goals leading the team to a substantial victory.

Goalkeeper Chelsey Jones was named the Wilson/California Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Soccer player of the week. Jones shows superb talent in defending the goal as she has not conceded a score in three games. She was able to defend five different Golden Eagle corner kicks during the second half.

However, Jones is not all defense, she was able to assist on Jani Carmona’s goal in the seventy-eighth minute.

Jones, from her own 18-yard box, kicked the ball over the Golden Eagle defense a couple of yards away from the net, where Jani Carmona took a shot and scored making the final goal for the game.

“Some of the obstacles that the women on the team faced early on were injuries and disunity within the team,” said Clarke.

The initial losses did not dismay the team for they kept going at it training hard and coming together. To be able to make a total turn around and turn that bad luck into setting the longest winning streak in CSUSB history speaks volumes of the women’s dedication and hard work.

It is no wonder that last week the Coyotes were ranked seventh in the first NCAA regional poll of the season.

Currently, the Coyotes are at a  8-5-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the CCAA.