When division rivals face off against each other, tempers flare and goals are scored in amazing fashion.

On Friday, Oct. 7, DVC’s soccer team, now ranked No. 3 in the state overall, faced off against the No. 1 overall team, Santa Rosa Junior College. The result of the game was a 2-2 tie.

“It was a good game for us… we would rather have a win, but it is still good to tie,” said Christina Worsely, DVC athletic director.

The first half started with a bang when Maria Bellafronte scored a goal on an assist from Wendy Margarin in the first minute. “I just got the ball, shot it to the far corner where the goalie wasn’t,” said Bellafronte. “We played really good against a tough team, but we have another tough week ahead.”

After DVC took an early one-goal lead, Santa Rosa struck back with back-to-back goals in the first half from Cara Curtin.

But DVC would not be let down, as Ana Torres struck for a goal with less than five minutes left in the first half to knot the game up at 2-2. “It was nice to score, but it was the pass from Kayla (Turkovich) that set me up,” said Torres.

The goal keeping for DVC was good. Sam Liubicich played keeper in the first half and allowed two goals, but had a few good saves to keep the score tied going into half.

When the second half started, Desiree Mortensen took over the keeper duties and did well, not allowing a second half goal and making great saves of her own.

“Both of our keepers Sam and Desiree played well, both had a good game, with good decisions,” said head coach Cailin Mullins. “We are a better team with both.”

The game was physical to the last whistle. Margarin took the only card of the game, given out in the second half with 32 minutes left.

“We need to improve physicality, but we handled the challenge well,” said Mullins. “We need to continue to improve game by game.”

DVC played well together as a unit and head coach Mullins reiterated that sentiment: “We played well collectively. It wasn’t the best game, but collective success and team effort gave us strength to tie the game.”

DVC soccer’s next game is against 21st-ranked American River College in Sacramento on Oct. 14. The next home game is Tuesday, Oct. 25, against 16th-ranked Cosumnes River College.