By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com
Head coach Mark Corbett called the Napa Valley College women's soccer team's 4-1 Bay Valley Conference win over host Merritt College-Oakland Tuesday the "best team performance of the season so far."
Napa Valley (5-6-1 overall, 4-4-1 Bay Valley) had all 12 players available for the match.
Annie Sanchez, a freshman forward, scored two goals to lead the Storm.
Brianna Munoz, a freshman defender, scored a goal.
Melina Shaline-Solis, a freshman forward, scored a goal.
"We passed the ball really well to keep possession for long periods, but also defended as a team to stay compact and limit Merritt's top players space or opportunities," said Corbett.
Munoz scored NVC's first goal on a direct from a free kick after Shaline-Solis was fouled.
Sanchez scored the Storm's second goal on an assist from Alexis Orozco, a freshman defender, after a good play from Tanya Rivas, a sophomore forward.
Sanchez scored the Storm's third goal after getting a through pass from Riann Palomo, a freshman.
A long ball from Areli Ramirez-Ruiz, a sophomore defender, was chased down by Shaline-Solis, who got in between two defenders to score NVC's fourth and final goal.
Merritt's goal came in the final minute after a goal-mouth scramble following a wide free kick.
Napa Valley continues its season on Thursday, Nov. 2 with a Bay Valley match at Los Medanos-Pittsburg starting at 1 p.m.
* Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019 after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016, the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Napa High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2022.