SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — The Lake Tahoe Community College women’s soccer team continues to rule the Golden Valley Conference and the top of the national rankings.

The Lady Coyotes stayed No. 1 for the fifth straight week in the United Soccer Coaches Top 20 Poll and have been nationally ranked for the past 26 polls dating back to 2017.

The Coyotes blasted Butte 7-0 Tuesday in Oroville, Calif behind two goals and two assists from Alexandra Trinidad and two goals from Lauren Wolcott.

Trinidad leads the team in goals (18), second in assists (7) and is first in points (43). She also ranks third in the state in scoring. Wolcott’s 13th goal of the season ranks her 13th in the state in goals scored.

Sophomore Jennifer Valdivia, a South Tahoe graduate, scored her first-ever collegiate goal for the Coyotes against Butte, while Xiana Pang-Abas scored her fourth goal in the past two games and Nicole Bumgarner also scored for the second consecutive game.

LTCC has outscored its conference opponents 38-1 so far this season, and has outscored all opponents 64-7. Thirteen different players have scored for the Coyotes this season, and sophomore left back Isabella Wakeling ranks second in the state in assists (10).

“As good as we have been this season, and we’ve been great at times, we still haven’t played a complete game,” said Coyotes head coach Jeremy Evans. “When the games aren’t very competitive we have some mental lapses and tend to coast at times. Sometimes that is natural when the environment isn’t competitive, but as a coaching staff we are still working with them on developing a stronger mentality and playing hard for 90 minutes. At the same time, these conference games have really allowed us to develop our bench and see who can help us during a playoff run.

“We’ve had some nice performances from the reserves and our team is deeper than I previously thought,” Evans added. “Interestingly enough, Tuesday’s game was the first time since our scrimmage against UC Davis on August 5 that we had our full team together. Between injuries and/or suspensions, we haven’t all been healthy and together in nearly three months, so I think that should help us build consistency as we get closer toward the postseason.”

LTCC (13-0-2 overall, 6-0 GVC) next will play Tuesday at Siskiyous before traveling Wednesday for a key non-conference clash at Los Medanos.

The Coyotes next home game is Friday, Nov. 1 against Redwoods.

Coyote men still in hunt for GVC title

The Coyote men lost a tough 1-0 GVC game Tuesday at Butte, the No. 9 team in the nation.

“Getting a result there would have been the easiest way to win our first conference title since 2015,” Evans said. It was a very physical and intense game, yellow cards on both teams, and we were red carded in the 59th minute, meaning we had to play the final 30 minutes down a player, and we still created chances.”

Butte took the lead in the second half in the 59th minute after a series of failed clearances from the Coyotes, Evans said.

Evans also thought his squad should have had a clear penalty kick on the 40th minute when Joel Garcia was taken down in the box.

Evans said goalkeeper marlon Cruz made several nice saves to keep the Coyotes in the game.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak.

The Coyotes are 7-7-2 overall and 5-2 in GVC play with five games remaining.

“We will need to win out to have a shot at the conference title, and get a little help from someone else along the way,” Evans said. “But I couldn’t be more proud of the way the men played against Butte. As a coach, all you can do is ask your players to play their hearts out and leave everything on the field, and we did just that. We were forced to overcome some real adversity in the game that in many ways was our championship, and for perhaps the first time all season, we maintained our composure when things could’ve unraveled quickly. A month ago, I don’t think The improving maturity among the group and willingness to fight together was nice to see, but Butte is nationally-ranked and is among the top teams in the state for a reason. They are a quality team that will be difficult for anybody to beat, and we gave them all they could handle on their home field.”

In the Coyotes 2-1 win over Feather River last Friday, Oct. 18, Niko Dongmann and Garcia both scored goals; Garcia’s game winner was in the 88th minute. Feather River converted a penalty kick in the first half to make it 1-1 at halftime.