In Diablo Valley College’s first conference game of the season, the defense was the star in the 0-0 tie against Santa Rosa, giving the Bear Cubs their first blemish of the season.

Coming into this game Santa Rosa had a record of 7-0, and they didn’t look like they were going to stop there. For the first ten minutes of the game, Santa Rosa came out strong while holding most of the possession and getting a lot of chances on goal.

DVC shifted the momentum back in their favor with some great defensive effort. “Our defense is really strong,” sophomore goalkeeper Sammi Hebing said, “even with one of our starting center backs out, they still held it together really well.”

Megan Coppa, Andrea Weinstein, Daissy Lozano, Katelyn Cunningham and Deiziana Dargan formed a defensive brick wall, not allowing Santa Rosa to put a goal in the back of the net.

“We are very happy with our defensive performance,” head coach Cailin Mullins said, “we stayed organized for the most part and limited their opportunities on goal.”

It wasn’t just the back line that came through in the clutch, it was also the goalkeepers Sammi Hebing and Katie McGlaughlin. “They did excellent back there, that’s why we use both of them,” said coach Mullins, “they are both very good and they have both made big improvements leadership wise back there for us.”

The defense was very strong into the second half with the help of a great save by McGlaughlin on a breakaway opportunity. But with the lack of DVC chances on goal, the game resulted in a draw.

“What matters is that we got the tie against a team that was 7-0,” sophomore Daissy Lozano said, “we played really well as a whole, we just underscored that team.”

Up next DVC must face Cosumnes River, another conference rival, in hopes that they can find their scoring feet and put some goals in the back of the net.

The next home game will be on Friday, Oct. 2 at 3:30 pm.