Women's soccer team opens season with win against Salt Lake Community College

Women's soccer team opens season with win against Salt Lake Community College

The No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Eastern Florida State College women's soccer team opened the regular season with a win on Saturday night.

The Titans defeated No. 4 Salt Lake Community College in the season opener for both teams at Orlando Health Stadium. Eastern Florida State College won the season opener for the second time in three years.

The Titans didn't waste much time getting on the board as freshman Nancy Almanza broke free in the middle of the field and tucked the ball past the Salt Lake Community College goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute.

Salt Lake Community College would tie the game on a long free kick that sailed into the net with 5:29 left in the first half.

But the Titans were not going to be denied as sophomore Laura Cetina rocketed one for her first goal of the season with 3:19 remaining, giving the Titans a 2-1 lead. With under a minute left in the first half, Lena Stevens made a nice cross that Logan Humbert finished to give the Titans a nice 3-1 lead at halftime. 

Salt Lake Community College would close the gap to 3-2 in the second half but that was as close as they would get.

"It was important for the girls to get off to a good start, we played a lot of new players and they played well," Eastern Florida State College women's soccer coach Scott Carswell said. "It is good to get that first win and it gives them some momentum heading into a couple more big games next weekend."

Eastern Florida State College (1-0) will travel to Wyoming for a couple of top 20 games with Iowa Western Community College and Laramie County Community College next weekend.