Jordan Steele scored a natural hat trick, and the San Bernardino Valley College women’s soccer team held on as Grossmont College tried to mount a second-half comeback in a 4-2 victory Tuesday afternoon at SBVC.
The Wolverines struck early, as Stephanie Doran ripped a shot into the far post from about 30 yards out in the sixth minute giving SBVC (11-1 overall, 7-0 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) a 1-0 lead.
From there, it was all Steele. The Tahquitz High graduate tapped home a centering pass from Perri Beck just two minutes after Doran’s goal to double the lead. Then, about 10 minutes later, she stole the ball in the middle of the field, and carried it up the middle, blasting a shot past Jessica Schott. She completed the hat trick in the 27th minute, again stealing the ball, and this time, sending a high, looping shot over Schott’s head.
To start the second half, San Bernardino Valley coach Kristin Hauge opted to rest some of her starters, and the Griffins took advantage, breaking the Wolverines’ long shutout streak in the process.
Grossmont (6-4-3, 3-2-1) scored twice in four minutes in the second half – the first goals SBVC has allowed since a 3-0 loss to Santa Barbara more than a month ago. It was the first goal against the Wolverines in 785 minutes of game time, an eight-plus game shutout streak. Julia Hartman got the goal, hitting a half-volley past Ann-Marie O’Connell.