MILWAUKEE, Wis. — For 50 minutes, the Milwaukee Area Technical College women's soccer team stayed within a goal of Rock Valley College. Then the Golden Eagles scored in the 51st minute, again in the 74th and again in the 77th to pull away for a 4-0 win Wednesday. The shutout loss at home was the Stormers' seventh straight and dropped them to 3-7-1.

The Stormers faced an uphill battle against a Rock Valley team ranked 11th in the nation in the Week 6 NJCAA Division II women's soccer poll.

The matchup was also part of Hispanic Heritage Day for MATC soccer, hosted by the Athletic Department and the Office of Student Life in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month. The day held special meaning for the Stormers because more than half of the team's players are Hispanic.

"Our team makeup is predominantly Hispanic cultures," Stormers head coach Aron "Buddy" Gentry said. "They represent their cultures very well. They buy into the program, they get good grades, and they work very hard. We are happy to honor their heritage and we're really happy to have as many Latinos in our program as we do."

Rock Valley outshot MATC 28-4, including 15-0 on goal, and held a 16-2 edge in shots in the first half. Sophomore forward Vanessa Reyes led the Stormers' offense with three of their four shots.

"Coach Kevan Watkins has his ladies playing very well at the end of the year," Gentry said. "I would not be surprised if they were representing our region [Region 4] in the national tournament."

Rock Valley took a 1-0 lead into halftime on a goal in the 20th minute and added a second off an assist in the 51st. The Golden Eagles then put the match away late, scoring twice in three minutes, first off an assist in the 74th and then unassisted in the 77th.

Gentry said the plan at halftime was to stay the course, but a short roster caught up with the Stormers late.

"Our halftime was to just keep plugging away, keep sticking to the gameplan, and I think for the most part, they did just that," he said. "We were short on numbers today due to some injuries, and it kind of reared its ugly head unfortunately towards the end."

Second-year starting goalkeeper Caroline Buczynski made 11 saves and allowed four goals, three of them in the second half.

UP NEXT

MATC (3-7-1) closes out the regular season at Madison College on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7:15 p.m. in Madison.