By: Noe Ortega
With a hat-trick from East Los Angeles College freshman forward Perla Navarro, women’s soccer defeated Pasadena City College 3-0 on Friday at Robinson Stadium.
By this, the Huskies win their first game in the South Coast Conference-North and improved their record to 2-3-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.
Navarro completed her hat-trick in minute 72, with a through-ball pass that came from freshman midfielder Crystal Gonzalez.
She shot the ball and PCC goalkeeper Samantha Martinez deflected it, but it still managed to roll in.
“It feels good. We’ve had some tough games, but this one was way better. I’ve scored them before (hat-tricks), but never in college level. It makes me really happy,” said Navarro.
The Huskies dominated the first half with possession of the ball and shots.
Navarro’s first goal came four minutes before the first half ended. Gonzalez made a pass from behind the midfield line that left Navarro in a one-on-one against PCC goalkeeper Martinez to score and make it 1-0.
“They never stopped working. That’s something that’s been good for us. We were able to find the space, which was in behind their (PCC) defense . They play a little flat and we had a lot of speed up top so we took advantage of that,” said ELAC head coach Tessa Troglia.
Three minutes later, PCC lost possession of the ball in the midfield and Gonzalez lobbed the ball over PCC’s defence so that Navarro could have a one-on-one and score the second goal of the game.
“We’re really pleased with her (Navarro). She’s someone that we count on when we use her in the midfield. We’ve been pushing her high now, because she’s so versatile. But I’m very happy with her,” said Troglia.
The Huskies finished the game with 17 shots, 11 from the first half and six from the second half. ELAC dominated PCC with shots throughout the entire game, but PCC freshman forward Katy Coats was its most dangerous player.
Coats finished with eight shots, four of which were saved by ELAC sophomore goalkeeper Adriana Huerta.
Women’s soccer’s next game will be away against Mount San Antonio College at 4 p.m. in another SCC-North match.