Santa Ana, CA — Santa Ana College Women's Soccer came up just shy of a solid result in their 2024 Orange Empire Conference opener against the Santiago Canyon College Hawks (4-2-1, 1-0-0) on Tuesday afternoon. Despite giving up a goal in just the second minute of action, the Dons (1-3-2, 0-1-0) played the Hawks tough the rest of the way. SAC fought for a corner kick in the 82nd minute and took advantage of the opportunity as Linci Leyva put a header over the outstretched SCC goalkeeper and into the right corner of the goal to tie the game at 1-1. Tiffany Rodriguez was credited with the assist to give Leyva her first goal of her career. In extra time, the Dons threatened again and earned a free kick just outside of the goal. Rodriguez crossed the ball into the box but it was cleared by the Hawks, which led to a breakaway on the other end. Sammantha Gomez was the last defender back for the Dons and committed a tough foul in the box. Santiago's Jordyn Lamastra then hit the penalty shot and the final whistle was blown shortly after. SAC goalkeeper Noemi Reyes had a plethora of great saves but couldn't quite reach the penalty shot. The sophomore from Jurupa Valley recorded six saves in the match.