Medina Leads Women’s Soccer to Win over L.A. Harbor

TORRANCE, Calif. – Freshman Melisia Medina made her return from an ankle injury in style Friday afternoon as she provided the offense in El Camino College's 2-1 South Coast Conference victory over L.A. Harbor at the ECC Soccer Field.

Medina scored two goals for the Warriors (4-11-4, 2-4-0) and Kelly Gallagher made five big saves in the second half to lead ECC to the win over the visiting Seahawks.

For the Warriors, it was their second conference win in the last three outings after they had opened SCC with three straight losses.

Medina opened the scoring in the 31st minute with a curving shot from the edge of the 18-yard box into the left corner past Seahawks' keeper Catherine Salazar for a 1-0 lead. Medina smacked the shot off a perfect pass from Alexandria Katsouridis who was charging the right side.

Medina struck again in the 55th minute off a give-and-go with Jessica Varela. Medina led Varela with a pass down the left side and then received the ball back in nearly the exact same spot as her first goal. Medina fired a shot that went off Salazar's hands and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

The Seahawks' had a golden chance to cut the deficit in half in the 76th minute as the Warriors were whistled for a foul inside the box, awarding a penalty kick to L.A. Harbor.

Catherin Corea took the shot and was denied by Gallagher, keeping the lead at two for ECC. The save proved pivotal as the Seahawks would score in stoppage time to trim the ECC lead to 2-1. The final whistle would blow soon after, giving the Warriors the hard-fought victory.

The Warriors will return to action Tuesday afternoon on the road against Long Beach with kickoff set for 2 p.m.