COD (6-7-1; 5-4) received huge production from three different offensive players as all three had two goals each in a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference win over the El Cajon Cuyamaca Coyotes (2-12; 2-5), 8-1.

The Roadrunners jumped out of the gate ready and six minutes into the contest, freshman forward Maranda Palmer (Twentynine Palms H.S.) forwarded a through ball to sophomore forward Madison Decker (San Bernardino Aquinas) who placed it right in front of freshman forward Alyssa Meza (La Quinta H.S.) for her first goal of the season and the first, of what would be, many goals on the afternoon.
In the 16th minute, sophomore defender Cynthia Hernandez (Cathedral City H.S.) lobbed a shot forward from beyond midfield and freshman midfielder Vanessa Caudillo (Indio Shadow Hills) took it the rest of the way, as she sliced her way through the Coyotes defense and plowed a shot past the keeper for her fifth goal of the season and giving Desert a 2-0 advantage.

Before halftime in the 31st minute, Caudillo would find the back of the net again when a ricocheted shot caromed off of the Coyotes keeper and directly in front of Caudillo who buried the shot for her sixth goal of the year, giving Desert a dominating 3-0 lead at the break.

Sophomore goal keeper Britney Vargas (La Quinta H.S.) along with her defensive front, played a brilliant first half, with Cuyamaca only taking four shots, but the Coyotes shots were on target, as each of those four shots led to Vargas saves.

Just minutes into the second half, Decker would light up the scoreboard for her fifth goal of the season, as she took a goal kick from Vargas just before midfield and darted to the right and down the sideline, wiggling her way to about 18 yards out and pounding a shot past the Coyotes keeper, giving Desert a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Not to be outdone, six minutes later, in the 55th minute, freshman midfielder Melita Pena (La Quinta H.S.) combined with Decker and Hernandez to score her sixth goal of the year, sliding to catch-up with the pass from Hernandez and poking the shot into the back of the net, giving Desert a 5-0 advantage.

Less than 90 seconds later, Decker was awarded a penalty kick and converted the opportunity, giving Decker her sixth goal of the season and a 6-0 lead for the home side.

In the 59th minute, Pena would take the team lead in goals by scoring her second of the game and seventh of the season, when Decker found Pena near the goal mouth. Everything was falling right for Desert and Pena even admitted about her second goal, "I just got a shot off and it went in."

The final goal of the afternoon for Desert was a Coyotes own goal, when a Cuyamaca defender tried to pass it back to their keeper, only to have that keeper unprepared to take the pass. 
Unfortunately, the chance to secure the Roadrunners fourth shutout of the 2016 season fell about 19 minutes short, as in the 71st minute, Cuyamaca pounded a shot past Vargas.

Desert would take 23 shots on the afternoon, compared to the Coyotes 11, goalies for both teams were close in saves, with Desert making nine saves and Cuyamaca with eight saves.

Photo by Brian Sylva (COD SID)
Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information