Women's Soccer Rides On Coat(s)tails

For the second straight game, Pasadena City College women's soccer team forward Katy Coats led a comeback. With the Lancers down 2-0, Coats scored a pair of goals in an eight-minute span late in the second half to give PCC a 2-2 tie v. Palomar in the team's home opener at Robinson Stadium on Tuesday.

Coats, who has a goal in all three Lancers' games (now at 0-1-2), had at least four very strong scoring opportunities in the first half. Twice she just missed shots that flew over the crossbar in the opening 15 minutes. But with Palomar ahead 2-0, Coats teamed with sophomore defender Alexxis Molinar to score two creative goals.

In the 72nd minute, Molinar took a free kick from the 41-yard line. Palomar goalie Katie Stark made a chest save only to see the ball pop loose with Coats instinctively pouncing on the rebound deflection for the Lancers first goal. In the 79th minute, Molinar drove a long ball from midfield. Coats perfectly timed a header shot off a bounce inside the goalbox and to knock in the tying goal. It was her fourth goal of the season. 

"Coats has been a big part of our attack, and we're happy to have her on our team," said PCC first-year head coach Francisco Cantero. "I think a lot of her chances were the result of getting Erica Perez and Sophia Noriega involved more in the attack with great movement. We had some moments of excellent soccer, especially the way we created the scoring chances for Katy in the first half."

Coats finished with nine shots on goal. A little more than two minutes into the game, Noriega sent a perfect crossing pass to Coats, who ripped a drive from the 20-yard line that just missed above the cross bar. In the 24th minute, Coats had a golden opportunity at the 15-yard line but again her attempt for the upper part of the net went high. In the first half, the Lancers had one sequence where they took up the field and exchanged four tic-tac-toe passes to create another scoring chance. 

Palomar, like PCC, is still winless at 0-4-1. The Comets took their 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Yuliana Sanchez. Palomar had only a few scoring chances overall, but one was an outstanding save by PCC backup goalie Yulissa Macias, who stoned Samantha Kaye-Toral on a point-blank shot high in the box in the 63rd minute. 

This Friday, Sept. 14, the Lancers look for their first win in a 5 p.m match at Antelope Valley College.