COD (1-1) played under the lights for the first time in 2018 and it suited them well as they had an offensive explosion in the first half, scoring five goals, on their way to a victory over the Imperial Valley Arabs (0-3-1), 5-0.

The Roadrunners got on the board within the first thirty seconds, as sophomore defender Alexi Mejia (La Quinta H.S.) lifted the ball to freshman midfielder Estefania Valenzuela (Thermal Coachella Valley) right in front of the goal mouth and pounded the shot into the back of the net, to give Desert an early 1-0 advantage.

In the 18th minute, freshman forward Reanna Rivera (La Quinta H.S.) was at the right place at the right time as she received a deflected shot from the Imperial Valley keeper and moved to the right slightly and rifled a shot into the lower left corner of the net to give the Roadrunners a 2-0 lead.

Mejia would find herself in the middle of the action once again, as freshman defender Victoria Relerford (Rancho Mirage H.S.) scored two goals in less than seven minutes and Mejia assisted on both of them, giving Desert a 4-0 lead.

Mejia mentioned later, "The first (goal) came within the first minute of the game, as a defender that's really exciting to be able to become a part of the attack. Because we don't really get a lot of 'in' on that all of the time. I do give a lot of credit to our center-mids and our forwards who were definitely moving and giving me an opportunity to move up with them and finish the ball."

In the 37th minute, freshman forward Marlin Bravo (Moreno Valley Rancho Verde) came off of the bench to score her first goal of 2018 as both teams would go into halftime with the Roadrunners holding a commanding, 5-0 lead.

When Relerford wasn't shooting, freshman forward Jaidah Martin (Rancho Mirage H.S.) was, as Martin had six shots on the evening, two on goal. "In front, it was a lot of progression," commented Martin, "there was a lot of attacking, there was a lot of possession, but there's still more to go, so it was really a good start."

In the second half, Desert looked to maintain their shutout while still spreading out some minutes amongst the players. Sophomore goal keeper Maira Fuentes (Thermal Desert Mirage), in her first start of the season, made three saves, all in the second half. "We had a shut out," said Fuentes after the game, "we took a win and it was very important because after our last game we (allowed too many) goals, we decided to not let any go in the net anymore."

The Roadrunners have a 26-2-1 record all-time in head-to-head contests against the Arabs, including a 14-1 record at home.

The next home game for COD is when they host the Mt. San Antonio Mounties on Tuesday, September 11, game starts at 5 p.m. The Roadrunners played the Mounties for the first time in program history in 2017, falling in at home in a close game full of offense, 5-4.

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For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information & Story provided by COD Sports Information. Photo by Michael Leone Photography (f8leone@yahoo.com)