City shuts out Olympians for first win of season

Nicole Caiocca (24) attempts to pass the ball past a San Diego Mesa College's player on Aug. 29 at City College. The women won their first game of the season 1-0. CLARIVEL FONG / THE GUARDSMAN

By Ryan Kuhn
The Guardsman

City College women’s soccer only needed one goal in the second half to receive the school’s first victory on their new field.

Sophomore defensemen Gail Bassett was in the right place as she headed a ball from a corner kick from Tera Piserchio in the 69th minute to defeat San Diego Mesa, 1-0 on Aug 29.

Rams head coach Gabe Saucedo said he wanted to play tougher teams this season to prepare themselves for another long year.

City College tied NCAA Division II San Francisco State in an exhibition scrimmage on Aug 25 and knew that Mesa was going to be a challenge as well.

“This game was a test very much like San Francisco State was,” Saucedo said. “I saw San Diego Mesa play against a good team in Foothill (College) so I knew they were tough, in shape and physical, so it was a test to see where we were at.”

City College’s aggresive style of play showed early when Bassett had a chance to take the lead with a header in the first half but missed. Soon after, defensemen Jasmin Palencia’s shot was blocked by the Olympian’s goalie.

For the game the Rams out-shot their opponents 18-7.

In the second half, Bassett scored her goal, making herself the first City College athlete to score on their new field. It was her first goal of the season after scoring three goals last year with Cal State East Bay.

“During practice we rehearsed that play a lot so I was just determined to get there and get in the air,” Bassett said. “Fortunately it worked out because I got a really nice ball to hit.”

That was all the Rams needed to secure the win.

“Our girls stepped up and we played well at times during the game but there is some obviously some things we need to work on, “ Saucedo said.

Being early in the season, Saucedo said his team would need to improve on their conditioning.

“Conditioning is always important, it is how we win games,” he said “The last 10-15 minutes of the game is really important and I thought we pushed really hard and we were a little fitter against SF State. There were some players that were sucking air a little bit and we will continue to push them in practice and work on fitness.”

The Rams will face the Santa Rosa Junior College Bear Cubs in their next matchup Sept. 9. Kickoff will be at 1:30 p.m.