The season began with a magical 21-game unbeaten streak — 17 victories and four ties, to be exact — before Southwestern College’s women’s soccer team finally tasted defeat during the 2017 season.
The Lady Jaguars lost, 1-0, at Pacific Coast Athletic Conference rival Grossmont on Nov. 10.
But the season had its reward.
Southwestern finished with a 7-1-2 record conference record (.800 winning percentage) to qualify for the Southern California regional playoffs.
SWC received the No. 12 seed and traveled to Chaffey on Nov. 18 to kick off the opening round in the state playoffs. The teams battled through regulation play embroiled in a 1-1 standoff before the hosts eventually sent the Chula Vista team home with a heartbreaking loss in the kicks from the mark tiebreaker.
Both regulation goals were scored on penalty kicks. Chaffey took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Melanie Lopez in the 25th minute. Southwestern tied the score when Bianca Mora converted her PK in the 82nd minute.
Rose Hauser made 13 saves on 14 shots to boost the Lady Jags during regulation; Marina Medeiros made saves on four of the five shots she faced for Chaffey.
Getting their kicks
Southwestern (17-1-5) finished its groundbreaking season with a 9-0-3 home record, 8-1-2 on the road.
The team won its opening 10 games, defeating visiting Norco, 7-0, on Aug. 25 and topping Cuyamaca twice by scores of 9-0 in conference play.
In 23 games, the Lady Jaguars took 452 shots and scored 98 goals. Defensively, the team was spot on with eight shutouts.
Mora, a sophomore, keyed SWC in season scoring with 23 goals and 12 assists in 23 games. Freshman Damaris Agulila netted 22 goals and 11 assists in 21 games to rank second in team scoring.
Freshman Mitzi Ortega ranked third in team scoring with 18 goals and 12 assists, followed by freshman Maria Lopez with six goals and 10 assists, freshman Yilena Betancourt with nine goals and three assists, sophomore Aletse Camacho with five goals and seven assists and sophomore Christina Hernandez with two goals and six assists.
Fifteen of the 22 players on the roster scored goals this season. Aguila led the team with six game-winning goals.
Hauser, a sophomore from Montville, N.J., played the majority of minutes in the net, recording a 0.83 goals-against average, 16-1-5 record with eight shutouts.
Fifteen players on the SWC roster were homegrown products from Metro Conference schools, including three each from Chula Vista and Castle Park high schools, two each from Eastlake, Southwest and Sweetwater high schools and one each from Bonita Vista, Hilltop and High Tech High Chula Vista high schools.
Mora is a graduate of Hilltop High School while Aguila is a Chula Vista High School alumnus.
Men’s soccer
Southwestern finished regular season play 10-6-6 overall, 9-4-3 in PCAC play, and did not qualify for postseason play. The Jaguars kicked off the season with a five-game winless streak (0-2-3) and proceeded to run off a five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) to level the team’s record at .500 through the opening month of play.
SWC defeated Imperial Valley and San Diego Mesa twice during conference play and finished unbeaten (1-0-1) in matches against Mira Costa and San Diego City.
The Jaguars finished 5-3-4 at home and 5-3-2 on the road and scored 43 goals in 22 games.
Armando Garcia (Bonita Vista) kicked off the season with five goals and three assists in his first 13 games to lead SWC in team scoring, followed by former BVHS teammate Ronald Beeson with three goals and three assists.
Kentaro Matsuura, from Japan, posted a 5-2-5 record, 2.00 goals-against average and six shutouts in the team’s first 15 games.
With 21 freshmen on the team’s 26-deep roster, it appears the Jaguars will be a team loaded with experience next season.
Water polo
With an absence of a campus for the first time since the program’s start, Southwestern’s men’s and women’s teams combined for just two victories in 2017.
The Jaguar men finished 1-17 while the SWC women finished 1-18.
The men’s team’s lone win came 13-8 at San Diego Miramar on Oct. 19; the women’s team’s lone win came by forfeit against Modesto in tournament play Sept. 9 at Saddleback College.
Women’s volleyball
The Lady Jaguars finished 4-20 on the season, 3-7 in conference play. Southwestern started the season 0-16.
Sophomore Carly Threadgill led SWC with 63 kills through seven matches, followed by Tiona Jackson with 56 kills.
The Lady Jags won their final match of the season, defeating San Bernardino Valley, 3-0, on Nov. 14.
