Women's Soccer Climbs To State #2, Enjoys 6th Win In A Row

The Pasadena City College women's soccer team collected its sixth straight South Coast Conference victory--yet another school record for most conference wins in a row--defeating host Los Angeles City, 6-1, on Tuesday. The Lancers also learned that it had moved up a slot to #2 on the just released CCCSIA State Top 20 rankings.

The 2024 Lancers (14-1-1) already had set school records for longest winning streak at seven and best start to a season. PCC is 6-1 in SCC play and will have a big test on Friday, Nov. 1 when it hosts #T13 Long Beach City College on Sophomore Day. Kickoff for that match is 4 p.m. at Robinson Stadium. 

PCC trails #6 Mt. San Antonio (7-0) in the SCC North Division race as it still has hopes of earning a possible tie for the conference title. The college has never won a conference championship in women's soccer. The Mounties handed the Lancers their only loss this year, 3-0, in the SCC opener back on October 8.

Pasadena continues to be perfect in its history v. LA City, upping its record to 14-0 in the all-time series between the two colleges. 

In this match, Rachel Mentaze scored in the sixth minute on a rebound and Hailey Hull also knocked in a rebound shot later in the 33rd minute for a 2-0 PCC halftime lead.

In the second 45 minutes, Charlie Gallardo, Ashley Vera, Adamari Polanco, and Delilah Vazquez reached the net while Alexa Espinoza-Gutierrez collected two assists overall. Other helpers were contributed by Gallardo, Vera, Angely Puga and Isabela Guerrero. 

Gallardo, the SCC's leading scorer with 13 goals, eight assists for 34 points, reached milestone point #60 in her Lancers career. She stands ninth on PCC's All-Time Scoring List. Guerrero is 17th with 44 career points and Puga is 19th with 40. Hull is 25th with 33 points and Espinoza-Gutierrez is tied for 28th with 29. 

Vazquez and Gallardo are tied for the SCC lead in assists with eight each. 

PCC is eighth in team defense at just 0.56 goals allowed per game and has outscored opponents, 53-9, this season in 16 games.

Led by defenders Itzel Nunez and Destiny Delgado, PCC has recorded 10 shutouts while goalie Francesca Agliolo is third in the state in save percentage (.884) and eighth in goals against average (0.53) in her 11 games. Additionally goalkeeper Natalia Portillo also has a 0.53 GAVG in her seven games and netkeeper Layla Hoyo 0.71 in her seven appearances. 

Other key players include freshmen in Mentaze, Monique Arciniega, and Raylyn Laney along with sophomores Vera, Sydney Esquival and Tatiana Grigoryan. 

"I like the way we have had different players step up throughout the season," said PCC head coach Terryn Soelberg. "We've had tremendous leadership from our sophomore group with dynamic players like Charlie, Destiny, Itzel, and Delilah, but the freshmen too have held their own and made big contributions. Now we have to really step up our game up to beat a very tough Long Beach team on Friday."

The Lancers are fourth in the state and second in the region in power points at 2.4875.