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The Valencia Vikings’ women’s soccer triumphed for the second time this year with a crushing victory over the visiting Castaic Coyotes on Tuesday night.
Valencia beat Castaic 1-0 in a cold and windy match after losing 4-1 to the Coyotes earlier in the season.
Vikings junior Sophie Rooney stormed the field with a quick counter and scored the golden goal in the 66th minute with a perfect feed from Ameira Heidamak.
“I’m thrilled to be in the lead,” Rooney said. “After scoring the goal, I focused on maintaining the lead and as captain I tried to keep the team focused.”
Castaic (6-7-4, 3-4-1) started creating more chances midway through the half, taking almost 12 corner kicks before Vikings keeper Rebecca Ferguson scored. was there to stop
The sophomore goaltender put in a great performance, making nine saves in just his second collegiate game.
The Coyotes were always in danger of scoring thanks to their aggressive midfield play to keep the ball in Vikings territory.
The back lines of Ferguson and Valencia (2-8-1, 2-5-1) were put to the test but stood proudly to deliver the team’s second shutout and win of the season. The performance was much-needed for Vikings head coach Brian Miller.
“We’ve done a lot of work to make our defenses a little more robust,” Miller said. “I think that helped and the girls stepped up a little bit. We passed the well, we looked like another team.”
The Coyotes made several plays in the second half, with back-to-back corner kicks by the team after the Vikings hit out-of-bounds. Most of the corners were on target in the middle of the pack. The Vikings reached the volley first or made a deflection to stop all attacks.
Castaic kept the pressure on throughout the second half, but Rooney was quick enough to net the game-winner with a defender-clad counter.
The Coyotes have been shut out four league games this year, but are on track to make the playoffs.
Valencia have had an eventful season, but survived the play-off hunt after Tuesday’s victory.
“When you lose, you realize how special you and your team members are,” says Miller. “When you’re winning, it’s easy and everyone’s happy. When you lose, and you’ve lost quite a few games this year, it’s just a matter of how good the group of people you have around you are and how good they are rather than giving up.” , you can really tell how hard you’re trying to get through it.”
Castaic has the rest of the week off before his home match against Hart at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday. The Vikings will return to the pitch on Thursday for the second round against West Ranch. The two had drawn 2-2 in their last meeting and Valencia need a win to move up the table.
“Let’s think about the next game here against West Ranch and see how it goes,” Miller said. “It’s the only thing we can do when it looks like we’re going through ups and downs. Let’s focus on the next game and see what we can do there. Let’s see if we can play like we did tonight.”
Valencia hosts the Wildcats on Thursday at 6:30pm
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