Photo Courtesy of SC Athletics
PACKING A WALLOP—Freshman defender Mia Vega launches a free kick downfield. Southwestern’s women’s soccer team had a remarkable 19-1-1 record entering the championship tournament match against #1-ranked Santa Monica College but surrendered a goal in the 23rd minute of overtime.
By Jose Guzman
Women’s soccer players’ dream season had a rude awakening in the State Championship Tournament.
Southwestern fell 1-0 in two overtimes to Santa Monica College in a battle of nationally-ranked futbol titans that could have gone either way.
The Jaguars return home 19-2-1 empty handed, broken hearted but the toast of the town.
“I’m very proud of how the coaching staff and players battled to the very last whistle, champion qualities without a doubt,” said college president Dr. Mark Sanchez.
After two near misses in the span of a year, the group affectionately known on campus as the “Soccer Rockers” is out of the playoffs but into Southwestern College lore.
After taking one for the college and enduring a winless season filling in as the Southwestern College women’s basketball team earlier this year, soccer players transformed from martyrs to marauders. Their 19-win season ranked them fifth in the nation. They defeated the #1 team in America. A winless winter gave way to a sizzling summer and a furious fall.
“The ladies are back where they belong, on the soccer pitch,” said head coach Carolina Soto.
While racing to a 14-1-1 conference record, the team netted 111 goals and allowed just seven.
At one point Southwestern was 14-0 and harbored dreams of a national title.
Unfortunately, MiraCosta is in the same conference. At 15-0-1 the Spartans nipped the Jaguars for local honors, but Southwestern entered the state playoffs outranking the only team they lost to this season. MiraCosta’s goal differential of 82-8 – though impressive – was no match for Southwestern’s Jaguar juggernaut.
Stellar returnees like Gialli Francisco excelled as expected, but a cornerstone player seemed to drop into Southwestern’s lap like a gift from futbol heaven.
Goalkeeper Aaliyah Campbell said she thought her soccer career was over after a serious injury suffered at UC Riverside. She credits Soto and her staff for persuading her to try a comeback and rekindle her love for soccer.
“At UCR I had an injury and ended up quitting the sport,” Campbell said. “Coach Soto wanted me to come play for Southwestern but I was pretty hesitant.”
Campbell became the Great Wall of Chula, a place where even rockets, corner-seeking benders and breakaways go to die.
Southwestern’s victory over Chaffey College—America’s top-ranked community college women’s soccer team—“put Southwestern on the map,” said Soto.
“It just shows that we can beat anyone,” she said. “I am very proud of this team. Defensively we have been good. Now we know we have a target on our back. Everyone wants to beat us.”
Veteran assistant coach Jennifer Rodriguez said the heartbreaking conclusion to last season motivated this year’s squad. Southwestern lost the conference championship in 2023 by one goal.
“We wish last year would have gone differently, but it did not go our way,” she said. “We are here to play. This team is so cohesive. We were able to give Chaffey a good game. I do not think they expected that from us. It was good for our team to find that we can compete with a great team.”
October began with a 12-0 drubbing of Imperial Valley and roared into league play on fire. Sophomore Ariana Lleras helped to lead the way. A converted midfielder, she became a lockdown defensive center back who destroys fast breaks and ties up the other teams’ star offensive players.
“I’m glad I was able to help the team so much (by playing defense),” she said. “We are super proud of ourselves, especially all the (preseason) work we put in. We are happy to keep this winning going. We are trying to make names for ourselves.”
A 3-2 MiraCosta victory ended hopes for an undefeated season, but not the league title – or a state championship in soccer’s home state. Rodriguez said the team was laser focused. November kicked off with a 7-0 victory over Imperial Valley. Southwestern did something unprecedented by not surrendering a goal all month to finish out conference.
Clean sheets flapping in the dry breeze did not become a distraction, said Campbell.
“We are being called a powerhouse,” she said. “We beat Chaffey, but we still have so much work to do to accomplish the goals we have set. We stay humble and just continue to work.”
Teams could not defeat the Lady Jaguars, but they were betrayed by their own field. League officials decreed the Southwestern College soccer pitch unsafe and unplayable, forcing remaining home games
across the street to the football
field at Bonita Vista High School.
Southwestern’s coaches and players said the relocation would not effect their play. Soccer is played around the world by great players on humble fields. The Lady Jaguars were ready to play anywhere – even across the street.
Southwestern’s well-conditioned team thrived during two hours of exhausting battle with Santa Monica, but it is the one that slipped away that brought an end to a storybook season.
