Women's Storm Soccer Optimistic Despite DVC Loss

The inaugural season for the new Storm women's soccer team has been going well, even after sustaining their first loss Tuesday against Northern California's most powerful two-year college athletic conference, the Big Eight.

In a non-conference contest, Bay Valley Conference's NVC Storm limited Diablo Valley College to one goal scored early in the first half.

The Storm's defense kept the pressure on throughout the 90 minute game while the offense mounted a five-shot effort, impressive given the strength of DVC.

DVC executed 16 shots which either goalkeeper Kerry McGrath handled or were wide of their mark. McGrath is a local player, a freshman at NVC from .

Playing schools with a stronger reputation is good, according to head coach Brad Williams.

"The girls battled hard; we are expecting to beat these teams in the near future and create some scoring chances. We kept the game close by sticking to our game plan and defending well."

Putting together a new team from scratch can be a challenge, but Williams believes it's gone well.

"Team chemistry has been great. The girls are battling hard for each other and have been learning together. We haven't had an easy game yet on our schedule, and we are playing the top teams from each conference so it's always nice when we are competitive and creating scoring chances."

Despite the loss it could have been much worse. "The defending was superb," Williams said.

"Other than that one goal, we shut down a lot of their clear cut scoring opportunities. Kerry McGrath and the back four were very solid and kept the game close for us, allowing us to push forward and put DVC on their heels at times."

Putting together what the players have learned - every mistake, every good move - comes after every game.

"We need to be scoring more goals," Williams said. "We need to be more clinical in the attacking third and pushing players into the attack. There were moments where our possession style of play came through today, and now we need to work on our final ball and finishing."

By any measure, Coach Brad Williams means to make the Storm a house-hold name in the Bay Valley Conference. "We will be focused on conference by the middle season. It is a realistic expectation that we can win our conference this year, and I believe we have the team to do it. We are focused on one game at a time and putting together complete 90 minute performance."

The Storm defeated Feather River College 1-0 and Cañada College 5-0 earlier in the month. Last Sunday they forced powerhouse Mt. San Antonio to a tie.

The next home Storm game is Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 2 p.m. against Chabot College. It is slated as a doubleheader with the men's Storm team playing at 4 p.m.