Dons make point in win over Lasers

  At the last women's soccer game, the faces that were on the field weren't players that you would expect to see against Irvine Valley College Oct. 9.
   That's because they are usually sitting on the bench, but instead of cheering on the sidelines, they were on the grass, celebrating their win as the Dons breezed by Irvine Valley College 3-1.
   "We were able to get a lot of players in and that was big for us," Head Coach Jodi Coffman said.
   Midfielder Reyna Fonseca came off the bench and made an immediate impact when she went one-on-one with the goalkeeper but was unable to score. In the 34th minute, Fonseca got the ball back and scored a goal that went over the goalkeepers' head for the first goal of the game.
   "I'm kind of proud, but not that much," Fonseca said. "I'm a forward, it's my job."
    Three minutes later the Dons took complete control when defender Salina Ortiz scored a goal on a free kick outside the box. Ortiz was part of a defense that didn't allow a shot on goal in the first half.
   The second half started where the first half left off as Ortiz scored her second goal of the game on another free kick. The substitutions came in, as the Dons began to show off the depth of their team.
   Forward Amanda Chavez, who leads the team in shots and is tied for the lead in goals, only played 31 minutes. Instead, the shots came from forward Wendy Pintor, defender Brenda Moreno, and mid-fielder Iliana Cardenas to keep both offense and defense strong.
   For 88 minutes Santa Ana College didn't even need a goalkeeper until forward Monica Ramirez kicked the only shot on goal and scored for Irvine Valley. As a team, the Dons defense allowed one shot in the second half and four shots overall.
   "Our defense is helping us win right now," Coffman said. "They all play really hard. I'm proud of them."
   With this win the Dons are now 5-3 in the Orange Empire Conference. Santa Ana will continue conference play tomorrow at Riverside College.