By MARTY JAMES martyjames.sports@gmail.com

The Napa Valley College women's soccer team concluded the Bay Valley Conference round-robin tournament by beating Merritt College, 3-1, in Oakland on Friday, Nov. 15.

It was the regular-season finale for the Storm (8-3 overall, 6-2 Bay Valley).

Annie Sanchez, a sophomore forward, scored two goals to lead Napa Valley.

Phoebe Arbabaraghi, a freshman forward, scored a goal.

Thais Thompson-Rangel, a freshman midfielder, had two assists.

Natalie Montoya, a freshman midfielder, had an assist.

Isabel Frias, a freshman goal keeper, had four saves.

Napa Valley was ahead at halftime, 2-1.

Sanchez scored the Storm's first goal, at the 5-minute mark, on an assist from Thompson-Rangel.

Sanchez scored her second goal of the first half, at the 30th minute mark, on an assist from Thompson-Rangel.

Merritt scored in the 40th minute of the first half on an unassisted goal from Michelle Matta.

Arbabaraghi scored the Storm's third and final goal. It came in the 75th minute of the second half on an assist from Montoya.

It was a very good regular season for Napa Valley, which had a 4-1 record at home and a 4-2 record on the road.

The Storm also unleashed a powerful scoring game, totaling 44 goals, for an average of 4.00 goals per game.

NVC finished in third place in the conference.

* 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.