The City College women’s soccer team extended their unbeaten streak to 12 games by defeating the Oxnard Condors 3-1 Friday at a windy La Playa Stadium.

“The wind was a killer,” said Vaqueros’ midfielder Laura Spivack.
Spivack scored the games first goal in the very first minute of play, when she dribbled past the Oxnard defense.

“We sent the message right away,” Spivack said. “It was good.”

Early in the game both teams struggled to maintain possession, as the windy conditions left little margin for error on passes.

Oxnard had its first close chance, after 10 minutes of play, but the Condors’ Bianca Magana was injured when she got tangled with Vaquero Goalie Meghan Maiwald in the penalty area.

Magana was carried from the field two minutes later. The severity of her injury is unknown.

Most of the play in the first half of the match stayed on the Vaquero end of the field, in the same direction the wind was blowing.

By the 26th minute, the Vaqs had their first corner. Defender Caitlin Linas passed the ball to her teammates in front of the Oxnard goal, but no real chance materialized.

The strong wind was still an obstacle in the last minutes of the first half and Maiwald struggled to find her teammates from her position in front of the Vaq’s goal.

With nearly nine minutes remaining the wind seemed to save the Vaq’s from Oxnard’s only major threat of the first half. Condor Nancy Cazares fired a hard shot at Maiwald who blocked with her hands. The ball was carried by the wind and hit the upper post.

In the second half, the Vaq’s no longer had to fight against the wind direction and most of the play took place in front of Oxnard’s goal.

“Our coach gave us a good speech during half time,” Spivack said, when asked about the multiple chances City College had in the second half.

Nearly thirteen minutes into the second half, Linas took a corner kick and crossed a pass to her teammates in front of the Oxnard goal. This resulted in an own goal by the Condors and a 2-0 lead for the Vaqueros.

City College’s Shannon Lynott seemed to underline the Vaquero dominance of the match when she scored the third goal of the game with 27 minutes remaining.
A few seconds later Oxnard’s Cazares received a yellow card after a short fight for the ball with Lynott.

Maiwald’s attempt at her sixth consecutive clean shot was foiled – with only 45 seconds left – when Oxnards’s June Gullien dribbled the ball behind the Vaqs’ defense and scored the Condors only goal.

Despite the weather conditions, the fairly large crowd stuck it out until the final whistle.

The Vaqueros are currently ranked sixth in the state, with an overall record of 8-0-4. Their next match is against Cuesta College at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday at La Playa Stadium. ?