New coach, new year, new goals
SAN MARCOS, CA (8/24/2022) – Under a new head coach (Gregg Cacioppo) and assistant (Jessica Montiel), the Palomar College women's soccer team is looking to make a name for themselves in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference. Last season, the Comets finished 7-10-2 overall and 6-9-1 with a sixth-place finish in conference play.
This season, the Comets return heavy hitters like Judith Belman, Katherine Golec, Diana Martinez, Itzel Villalobos and Caroline Soto. With eight returners this season, the Comets are working on playing together as a unit and learned to trust one another on the field. The back line of Golec, Villalobos and Soto is something to be reckoned with, while Martinez and freshman Ashley Martinez read the field well in the middle to get the Comets in position to score. The speed of Belman returns and opposite her is freshman Olivia Albarren who matches the speed of Belman.
The Comets return two goalkeepers this season: Sayra Gamboa and Savannah Wahrer and introduce Ruby Carter as the third keeper. Goalkeeper was a position the Comets struggled at last season, but the offseason work put in my Gamboa and Wahrer shows and with the addition of Carter, the Comets are savvy savers.
Palomar will play a similar schedule to last season. Their home opener will be against Mt. San Jacinto College on August 26th at 1 p.m. on Minkoff Field. They will then host Los Angeles City College before hitting the road against Santa Ana College. Their final early season matchup will be a home match against El Camino College on September 6th at 3 p.m. From there, the Comets will play out their Pacific Coast Athletic Conference schedule with the hopes of a higher finish than last season.