Injuries can be frustrating. Such was the early part of the season for College of Marin's Julia Matos, who battled setbacks and slow recoveries as she worked her way back to game shape. This Mariner made her season debut in early October and played limited minutes as she built up her conditioning. It took about a month to make her presence felt, but Matos surely delivered on Tuesday in Napa as she scored twice for the Mariners to lead Marin to a 2-1 victory.

Matos got on the board early on as she received a pass from Christine Wilhoyte and scored in the sixth minute to put Marin on top 1-0. The game got tougher as the match wore on and neither team could mount much of an attack the remainder of the first half. Tatum Robach had two shots but neither were close enough to threaten the Napa Valley goal.

The match picked up in pace in the second half as Marin grew more confident and began to aggressively attack the Napa goal. Robach had two more chances, while Ana Kravitz and Liza Bernard added shots of their own, but none were successful in growing the Mariners slim one goal lead.

Against the run of play, Napa turned the tables with a goal in the 77^th minute. Joy Hopkins intercepted a pass in the midfield and beat Marin keeper Shanan Daly to tie the match up at 1-1. The match appeared headed for a draw, but Matos made sure her team would end up on the correct side of the score. She took a pass from Tatum Robach in the 88^th minute and expertly finished to regain the lead for Marin 2-1. The remaining minutes ticked off the clock and Marin was rewarded with the victory, their ninth of the season and seventh in Bay Valley Conference play.

Matos' brace included the first and second goals of her College of Marin career. Wilhoyte bagged her fourth assist of the season while Robach added her eighth helper of the year. Daly made eight saves for Marin.

The Mariners final game of the season is at Merritt on Thursday, November 9^th at 3pm.