Women’s soccer tie Mt. Sac

With only two games left to play, everything counts, and the Lancers held out against a tough Mt. San Antonio College team to walk away with a 1-1 draw at home in Robinson Field on Friday.

The Lancers are right on the edge of going to the playoffs, and must do well in their last two games. “We have no idea for playoffs, we are right on the bubble,” Coach Reggie Rivas said. “We probably need a little luck from the teams ahead of us, and obviously we need to take care of business.”

But it all seemed to go horribly wrong on Friday as Mt. SAC scored in the first four minutes. It was a play they had obviously worked on, as Hailey Havelind broke free from a chip over the defenders to slot it past a diving Angie Ulmer into the far corner.

But the Lancers did not give up. They are known as one of the best defensive teams in the league, and it showed as they began to shut down the offense of Mt. SAC.

It was near the end of the first half when PCC struck back with a goal of its own. Helena Macintosh took the corner kick, and Amanda Papac broke free on a run to the near post. She finished with a difficult volley into the corner to tie the score.

“Before she kicked the ball I knew in my head that it was mine,” Papac said. “There is no chance I am not going to get my foot on this. Helena Macintosh gave an amazing cross, and I got it in.”

At the beginning of the second half the Lancers came out strong, with continuous pressure on the Mt. SAC goal.

It was not until the end of the game that Mt. SAC got their offense together and put pressure on Pasadena’s goal. As usual Angie Ulmer made some tough saves, but it was Kaylin Richards who stood by her post to keep out a sure goal.

“They were really coming at us, I was marking the post for Sara [Oceguera] and I just stayed were I was supposed to be, I was in the right place at the right time,” Richards said.

The Lancers play Cerritos on Tuesday and their final home game against ECC Compton on Friday at 3 p.m. at Robinson Stadium.

When asked about playoffs hopes, Papac said, “It’s going to be tough, we have to pull off a win at Cerritos (ranked No. 1 in the state). We are going to have to play like this game, but times ten. It’s going to be rough, but we can do it.”