Sierra College Women's Soccer once again leads the Big 8 conference halfway through 2019 competition, accumulating a 7-1 league record thus far. It's a tight race for the lead, however, as San Joaquin Delta is just a game back from first place, and Folsom Lake sits just a loss and a tie behind the Wolverines (See league standinds here). Despite this, at the half way point Sierra sits as the frontrunner, and looks to continue that success in the second half of conference play and defend their 2018 Big 8 title.
Sierra's season thus far has been a roller coaster of highs and lows, with an impressive overall record of 12-2, underscored with several injuries that have seen starters and other key players benched for multiple games. Despite the hardships, the Wolverine squad has demonstrated their resilience, rising to the occasion and suffering just one loss in a two week span where three starters were on the sidelines.
In 2019 play so far, Sierra has a win percentage of .857, with 43 goals overall in 14 matches – the 8th most goals scored by a team in the state. Sierra averages 3.07 goals per game, with 10.4 shots per game, giving the Wolverines a shot percentage of .295 – 83 of those shots being on goal.
Sophomore forward Grace Vargas leads the team in goals with 14, putting her at fifth in the state overall, while also putting away 5 game winning goals, good for second in the state in that category.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jordan Higgins has recorded 7 wins, the sixth most of any community college keeper in California. She's allowed just 11 goals against, for an average of 0.91, while playing 1092:12 minutes (6th most time played for a keeper in the state, but with the fewest goals against and best GA average of those top six).
Sophomore midfielder Emma Schulz – with 2 goals herself – leads the Wolverines in assists with 8. Sophomore midfielder Frances Andrade has the team high shots on goal percentage with .714, while Paige Martinsen has the highest SOG% of a forward with .640.
Sierra kicks off the second half of Big 8 competition Friday, October 18 at Modesto, before hosting San Joaquin Delta on Tuesday, October 22 at 4:00pm in a battle of two of the Big 8's top women's soccer programs.