By Andres Reyes

Staff Writer

Bears soccer team slips through ‘quacks,’

Richland Thunderducks pick up win

The Brookhaven College Bears soccer team lost 3-1 to the Richland College Thunderducks Sept. 29. The Bears closed a 2-0 deficit with a penalty kick to make the game 2-1, but the Thunderducks scored again in the 27th minute to seal the game.

Brookhaven midfielder Claudia Aguilar wasted no time breaking away from the Thunderducks defense as the game began. Aguilar dribbled the ball with fast, sharp strides and left the defense stuck behind her. She took a shot at the goal, but just missed, as the first minutes of the game passed.

The game went scoreless until the Thunderducks stole a pass intended for a Bear and led an attack that broke down the Brookhaven defense for a score at the 20-minute mark.

Soon after the first goal, the Thunderducks placed a long pass to their forward to give her a clean, wide-open shot at the goal. Richland scored again in the 22nd minute, giving themselves a 2-0 lead in less than two minutes.

After halftime, the Bears aggressively searched for a goal and made a corner kick 11 minutes into the half. The ball flew in the air and landed in the middle of the Thunderducks penalty box. The Bears completed passes and a hard shot was fired to the goal, but Richland’s goalie committed an error by pushing someone out of the way, granting Brookhaven a penalty kick.

Brookhaven defender Emily Gesino got the nod to take the free kick and scored, hitting the ball toward the upper right corner of the goal and cutting the lead to 1 goal. Midfielder Vanessa Gomez said the 2 goal deficit was not going to stop them from playing. “We kept our heads high,” Gomez said. “We didn’t let the 2 goals get to us. We could have easily let them keep scoring.”

After a corner kick for Brookhaven, Richland regained the ball and had a big advantage in an advance toward the other goal. The Thunderducks scored their final goal in the 72nd minute to clinch the victory.

“They’re very good athletes. They had a very good bench, and they are skillful and a really good team,” Brookhaven head coach Jimmy Elder said. “We got the goal, but unfortunately, we made two other mistakes that ended the game for us.”