Monroe tops Monroe Community College in Pool A matchup
As if being the defending national champion weren’t pressure enough, the Monroe College Mustangs suddenly found themselves down 1-0 to the Monroe Community College Tribunes in the second half of Monday’s first game in pool play at the NJCAA Women’s Soccer Championship Tournament.
“We knew the moment they scored that goal we had to come back stronger,” Mustangs coach Jean Casseus said. “That definitely gave us a little motivation.”
And as the Mustangs have shown all season, a motivated team is a dangerous one. Monroe College scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 decision at Orlando Health Stadium on the campus of Eastern Florida State College.
“I didn’t like how we started off, but at the end, we put a lot of pressure (on them) and finished off strong,” said Mustangs freshman Sydoney Clarke.
It was Clarke’s goal, which came off a rebound of a diving stop made by Monroe CC keeper Meryl Wakefield, that put the top-seeded Mustangs (12-0) in front for good Monday morning.
Katrina Yencer had put Monroe Community College up 1-0 when she got into the box, slipped the ball past the goalkeeper, then finished it off for the Tribunes in the 51st minute.
Just one minute later, the Mustangs tied the game on a penalty kick by Luana Grabias.
Clarke’s go-ahead goal was followed by goals from Laia Munoz Danon and Regina Fiabema.
It was the Mustangs’ third win this season over Monroe Community College. And while those first two games came by scores of 6-0 an 5-1, the Mustangs knew they were in for a test Monday not only because of the familiarity of the opponent, but also the fact that the game was being played on a much bigger stage.
That’s when it helps to have seven sophomores who were part of last year’s national championship team and know what it takes, along with a talented group of freshmen who know what kind of situation they were walking into.
“It’s been a hard transition, I think, to get to this level,” Monroe College sophomore Kaitlyn Waterman said. “This is basically a new team. The sophomores that are here this year, didn’t play much in the championship last year.
“We had an idea that this game was definitely going to be the hardest one. Compared to the regular season, it wasn’t that much of a challenge. This was our first real challenge. We had to kind of adapt to that.”
Monroe College, now 1-0 in Pool A, will play again on Wednesday against No. 8 Laramie County. Monroe Community College (13-5-2) will be in action Tuesday against Laramie.
