Left-foot kicking Isabella Nersesyan blasted in two goals in an avalanche of first-half scoring as the #13 Pasadena City College women's soccer team blanked #20 Palomar, 4-0, in Round 1 of the Southern California Regional Playoffs Wednesday at Robinson Stadium.
PCC advanced to Round 2 to play #4 Cypress on Saturday, Nov. 22 (1 p.m.) thanks to notching all four of their goals in a 16-minute flurry during the first half. PCC stifled the high-scoring Comets with solid defense and strong goaltending by Gaioi Mahe, who made seven saves for the shutout.
The Lancers (15-6-2 overall) opened things with Iris Pollard sending a pass to Alexandra Lopez, who rifled in her team-leading 15th goal from the left side of the 10-yard line in the 23rd minute. In the 33rd minute, PCC went up 2-0 as Isabella Lopez's long send-in was secured by Esmeralda Jaquez, who chipped in a shot in the box
In the 37th minute, Nersesyan took a free kick from the 30-yard line and her bomb found the back of the net. Less than two minutes later, Nersesyan controlled the ball along the right sideline and caught the Palomar goalie out of position as she surprised her with a hard shot over her head. That completed the game's scoring.
The team defense buoyed by solid play by Caley Orona, Kristina Snowden, and Rachel Mentaze kept Palomar from penetrating the box often. While the Lancers outshot the Comets (11-5-5), 20-18, Lizzy Cook tried to get Palomar on the board, but was empty on a team-leading seven shot attempts. With two minutes left in the game, Mahe preseved PCC's eighth team shutout of the season on a leaping tip save on a Cook drive.
Directed by head coach Terryn Soelberg, the Lancers have now won a playoff game in each of the last three seasons.
Pasadena has a tall task in taking on Cypress (14-5-2), but just the fourth place team from the powerful Orange Empire Conference, which boasts #1 seed and OEC champion Saddleback, #2 Santiago Canyon and #8 Orange Coast. The Chargers have wins v. three teams that PCC lost to in the regular season in #6 Mt. San Antonio (twice), #7 Santa Barbara City, and Orange Coast.
Cypress is paced by All-OEC First Team selections in Jasmin De La Torre and Alexa Green.
Updated PCC side of Bracket below
