The Lady Roadrunners soccer team picked up an important Foothill Conference win with a dominant 3-0 win over the Mt. San Jacinto College Lady Eagles.

The Lady Roadrunners set the tone from the beginning by controlling ball possession in the Lady Eagles’ half of the field. After an early missed scoring opportunity, freshman forward Jessica Villagomez capitalized by controlling a through ball and outpacing Lady Eagle defenders to open up the scoring for the Lady Roadrunners with a fine finish inside the box.

Minutes later, Villagomez raced past several Lady Eagles defenders and hit a left footed volley that was a few feet over the crossbar. Rio Hondo maintained possession through the entire first half and limited the Lady Eagles to one or two scoring opportunities thanks in part to physical defending by sophomore defender Marysol Flores.

A few minutes before halftime, freshman Natalie Preston used her chest to control a bouncing through ball and promptly chipped the ball over the oncoming Lady Eagles goalie, who could only watch the ball sail over her head and into the net. Preston’s finish gave the Lady Roadrunners a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

The Lady Roadrunners continued to have possession in the second half. Most of their scoring opportunities originated from their defenders, who were composed in controlling the ball and patiently moved it upward to the midfielders and forwards. Preston took advantage of one of those scoring opportunities after patiently breaking a Lady Eagles offside trap at midfield, dribbling upfield, and slotting a right-footed shot to the left side of the frame and into the back of the net.

Rio Hondo sophomore goalkeeper Sandra Rodriguez was injured 15 minutes into the second half and had to exit the game. The Lady Eagles had several scoring opportunities later in the game, but were unable to capitalize due to poor finishing and a stingy Lady Roadrunner defense. Preston narrowly missed a hat-trick in the final minutes by misfiring  from 12 yards out after the Lady Eagles poorly mishandled possession in their own half.

The win was the Lady Roadrunners’ first of the season and first in conference play after a rough start to their season. They head into their next match against San Bernardino Valley College with a 1-1 conference record (1-4 overall).