Cuesta Women's Soccer dropped its final pre-conference contest to Santa Rosa, 3-0, and shall head into next week's Western State Conference play with 0-3-1 record. The Cougars have played with the minimum, 11 players, the past two games. Cuesta's 'Magnificent 11' has held its own, despite failing to record a victory. New Head Coach Kaleb Lique Naitove only had a few days to work with the team before opening the season with a loss at Reedley, 6-1, however under his guidance the Cougars have only allowed six more goals in their last four games. Today the Cougars' defense was stingy, as always, except for a ten-minute stretch midway through the second half. The visiting Bear Cubs scored all three of their goals between the 59th and 70th minute and that was all they needed to secure the victory. Cuesta Goalkeeper Marlem Cambron shutdown plenty of Bear Cub attacks and collected ten saves off the Santa Rosa's 20 shots. The Bear Cubs' defense, backed by a full bench, was focused on keeping the Cougars out of the scoring zone. Cuesta Freshman Shaylee Sargent and Alexa Garcia combined for the Cougars' only three shots of the game against Santa Rosa's physical and well-rested defense.
The Cougars are scheduled to open Western State Conference play next week at Ventura on Tuesday (6:30) and hosting local rival Allan Hancock on Friday (4 PM). The program, with only 11 players, will evaluate its future over the weekend.