COM Women's Soccer has enjoyed a renaissance in the 2017 Season, winning more games and scoring more goals than any team in recent history. The one mountain left to summit were the visitors for Tuesday's game. The undefeated Solano College Falcons came to play, but Marin was ready. The visitors jumped out to quick two goal lead, the Mariners rallied, and when the dust settled Marin came up on the short end of a 4-3 score.
Solano was first to score on the afternoon as Kailyn Herrera received a pass from Michaela Napata and beat Carolina Gonzalez to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez started in goal as Shanan Daly was suspended for the match from a pair of yellow cards in her previous appearance. Five minutes late a long ball into the Marin box was handled by defender Madeline De Carlo resulting in a penalty shot which Anissa Berumen converted for 2-0 Falcons lead.
Marin could have given up at that point, but they did just the opposite. In the 20th minute a beautiful sequence of short passes have Christine Wilhoyte an opportunity from the right side of the box. She received low ball from Kelly Santana and blasted her shot from right to left, past the Solano keeper and into the side netting to cut the lead to 2-1. In the 28th minute Liza Bernard got on the score sheet as she intercepted a pass and took it the distance before beating the keeper to tie the match up at 2-2. The Mariners still were not finished as leading scorer Tatum Robach took a pass down the left flank from Wilhoyte and lashed the ball into the net for a 3-2 Marin lead.
The score remained the same until the second half when in the 65th minute Solano began their comeback. Kailyn Herrera supplied Ariana Sanchez who beat Gonzalez to tie the game up at 3-3. In the 70th minute Sanchez struck again to give Solano a 4-3 advantage. Marin looked to push back and tie the game, but were denied in the final twenty minutes of play.
Despite the loss, it was the team's finest performance against the best in the conference. Robach scored her team leading 11th goal of the season, while Wilhoyte added her fourth goal and second assist of the year. Bernard scored her first goal of the season, while Gonzalez made eight saves in goal.
Next up for Marin is a crucial road test against Los Medanos College on Friday, October 27th. Second place is on the line as the Mariners face the Mustangs.
