The Rio Hondo women’s soccer team continues to approach an elusive Foothill Conference Championship as they dominated Victor Valley College, 3-0, on Friday, Nov. 7 at Rio Hondo.

The team is currently engaged in a tight race against San Bernardino Valley College for first place in the conference standings. In order to stay on track for the title, Friday’s game was an absolute must-win for the Roadrunners.

As soon as the game commenced, Rio Hondo seemed very focused as they took control of the game in no time. The team ran like clockwork as they moved the ball very smoothly which created many scoring opportunities.

Rio Hondo’s offense virtually seemed unstoppable as they tested the opposing goalkeeper since early on.

In the 21 minute, Midfielder Alexis Marinero, managed to penetrate the Victor Valley defense to score the team’s first goal which opened the game up even more for the Roadrunners.

Moments after, forward Andrea Sanchez followed up with a goal of her own making the score, 2-0, and giving the team a little bit of a breathing room.

During the second half, the team continued to push forward looking to put the final nail in the coffin.

As the 78 minute passed, Forward Sabrina Gonzalez helped her team do just that as she slid one past the keeper scoring the game’s final goal making the score, 3-0.

Head coach Jennifer Tanaka was ecstatic after the game where she praised her team’s valiant effort on the field.

“We needed to play a strong game today to keep our hold on first place in Conference,” described Tanaka. “We played a great game and created a lot of outstanding chances to score but were a bit unlucky at times hitting a few posts and the Victor Valley goalkeeper made some great saves.”

As well as the Roadrunners played on offense, the team’s defense were the ones to keep Victor Valley out of their side of the field almost completely.

Even with the minimal attacks they took on, Rio Hondo’s back line negated all of Victor Valley’s offensive threats that came their way.

“Our defense has been excellent all season long. That’s a big part of the success the team has had all season is the way all 11 players on the field play defense.  You can’t win a game by giving up goals,” said Tanaka.

The win improved Rio Hondo to an overall record of 14-1-3 and a 7-0-2 conference record which puts them on par with SBVC.

Going into the final game, the team looks to prepare like they always have by sticking true to their principles and by playing their game.

The team‘s last conference game will be on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. which will pit them against none other than SBVC.

Although their previous meeting ended in a 0-0 draw, it is very possible this next game will have a lot of questions answered by the end of it.