Women's Soccer 2017 Year in Review

The Crush women's soccer team enjoyed a fantastic 2017 season, improving in most statistical areas from year one and making the playoffs in only their second season as a program.

The goal from the begining of the season was to make the playoffs, so in order to prepare for the possibility of a postseason berth, the Crush emabarked on a challenging preseason schedule against opponents who were all playoff teams in 2016. Highlights included wins over Sierra College (1-0) and Ventura College (3-0), as well as a narrow 1-0 loss to eventual State runner up Santa Barbara City College. Finishing the preseason with a 5-5 record gave the Crush all of the experience they needed to go into conference play with the hopes of challenging for a CVC title.

The Crush finished the first half of conference tied for first place with a record of 5-0-1, highlighted by a 1-1 tie at home with Fresno City College who were 13-0 coming into the match. freshman midfielder Vanessa Torres scored the opening goal in the 36th minutes off of a cross from sophomore forward Elisa Soderholm. Fresno tied the match in the 67th minute, and sophomore goalkeeper Kalina Goodarzi saved a penalty kick late in the match to preserve the draw. The second half of conference continued with the Crush winning 5 games, though their lone loss in CVC play came at Fresno City on November 3. Fresno led 1-0 in the 57th minute, until Sophomore forward Elisa Soderholm scored directly from a corner kick in the 82nd minute to tie the match at 1-1. On the ensuing kickoff, a foul by the Crush led to a Fresno free kick which resulted in the go ahead goal after a shot rebounded off of freshman goalkeeper Danielle Cedillo and a Fresno City player put the ball right back in the net from clase range. It was great match that unfortunately ended up leaving the Crush one game short of the CVC title. They finished conference with a 10-1-1 record and second place finish, which after finishing the regular season with a 15-6-1 record, gave the Crush their first playoff berth of their young program's history.

As the #11 seed in the playoffs, the Crush traveled to #6 Santa Rosa in the first round for the first meeting in the history of the two programs. After 72 scoreless minutes, with neither team creating any clear opportunities, Santa Rosa broke through first. After a corner kick led to a scramble in the box for ball, it popped out right to a Santa Rosa player who scored from about 8 yards out. With the game at 1-0 with a short time left, the Crush gave everything to get the tying goal, and unfortunately gave up a second on a counter attack in the 82nd minute. The match ended at 2-0 and ended the season for the Crush. They finished the 2017 with a 15-7-1 record, almost doubling their wins from 9 to 15, almost tripling their goals scored from 31 to 84, and improving on their goals against average from .81 to .70.

It was an outstanding season and one that has given our program, our institution, and the community lots to be excited about for the future of Clovis Crush women's soccer. If you or someone you know is interested in being a part of the upcoming 2018 Clovis Crush women's soccer team, please contact head coach Orlando Ramirez at orlando.ramirez@cloviscollege.edu.