Injuries have been a common theme throughout Bakersfield College women’s soccer season.
“We’ve got five players out for the year, and then we have one (Jessica Hernandez) out with a concussion – we hope she will get cleared soon,” said coach Scott Dameron. Hernandez was cleared for the Oct. 26 match against Santa Monica but did not play until BC’s Oct. 29 match at L.A. Mission, according to Dameron.
Dameron added that numerous ankle injuries to mostly midfielders on the team have changed the dynamics of the team and the way that the team plays.
When asked if the injuries were due to training or circumstantial, Dameron replied, “They’re not necessarily related – usually when it’s muscle pulls and things like that you look at what you’re doing training-wise. A lot of these have been traumatic, things that are hard to say how you control it.”
Dameron talked about the 8-0 Western State Conference South win over L.A. Mission.
“We won 8-0, so it wasn’t close. They weren’t the biggest threat that we faced all year – when you go into a game like that it can be easy to relax and maybe you don’t play your best – that’s what I was pleased with. We were competing with ourselves, as far as how good we can play and they did a good job of that.”
BC’s Terrryn Soelberg and Stevie Lewis both scored two goals against L.A. Mission and teammates Baliegh Biter, Kristina Garcia, and Brittany Hunt each scored one goal. Hunt also had an assist.
BC lost 2-0 at home to Santa Monica (9-2-5, 8-1-1) in a WSC South match.
The Corsairs’ Sarah Barrington and Olivia Patterson each scored a goal to defeat BC.
The Renegades tied with Glendale (4-12-1, 2-7-1) in a WSC South match on Oct. 22.
Amber Beckham scored the Renegades only goal in the first half with an assist by Soelberg. Glendale scored their game-tying goal in the second goal.
BC defeated Canyons 2-1 on Oct. 19 in a WSC South match. Canyons’ record stands at 8-6-2 and 5-5-0 in WSC South.
Dameron talked about BC’s chances for playoffs.
“It’s definitely still there for us. We’re right on the edge [of making playoffs]. We’ve got games against teams with really good records that would move us up if we defeated them – one of them, Citrus College is just ahead of us right now so when we play those matches it’s going to be a big deal.”
The top 16 teams from each region of WSC North and South qualify for playoffs. BC (7-6-3, 5-3-2) is in 18th in the WSC South as of Nov. 1.
Dameron added that no teams in the WSC South have seen BC’s true colors.
“There’s never been a point when we’ve been full strength. We’ve been managing who we have and trying to figure out the most effective way we can play.”
Dameron added, “I’m impressed – they still play well with a nice style. The question is do we have the legs left to get some of these good teams at the end of the season.”