RAGE vs Academica – June 9th, 2025

By: Loralei Rohrbach

The No. 3-ranked RAGE defeated No. 9 Academica in an unexpected close game against the last ranked team in the Western Conference NorCal Division on Monday evening at Stanford Sports Medicine Complex. 

RAGE moved up in the division despite their loss to the Olympic Club because of their strong performance against the Soul and win against the SF Glens Saturday, June 7. 

Earlier this season RAGE beat Academica 2-1 at their home field in Turlock, so on Monday night with the return of Marta Pelegrín from the TST 7 v. 7 Tournament, RAGE anticipated a better performance. 

While RAGE controlled the ball for the majority of the game and 26 attempted shots, they were unable to convert more than one goal. 

The defense once again stepped up, easily clearing any Academica drives that made their way to the back field which gave goalkeeper Sydney Head a tame night seeing as little as three shots on goal. 

“I thought as a team, we did very well together. We were keeping a hold of the ball very well,” midfielder Amaya Amaya Cabrales-Estrada said. “Unlucky finishes, you know, we got to put in the back of the net. It just sucks that we could have got more in, but that’s part of the game.”

Heading into the match the game plan was to hold Academica, stay composed, and finish their opportunities. 

RAGE took a shot just 1:17 minutes into the game and again at 2:46, illustrating how the team effectively executed their strategy to attack hard and fast to wear down Academica defenders. 

“We put the ball in dangerous places throughout the game, but we weren’t necessarily taking quality shots,” said RAGE Assistant Head Coach Mike Herman. 

Pelegrín and Cabrales-Estrada echoed similar thoughts that moving forward they want to maintain possession of the ball to ensure better opportunities and shot selection to make it in the back of the net. 

“Today we had really good chances to score, but we only scored once. So we need to keep training in finishing, because we need to score more goals,” Pelegrín said. “Today was not necessarily an easy game, but the opponent didn’t put everything out there, so we needed to score more. It’s only going to get harder against opponents who score, so we need to finish better.”

Additionally, when RAGE looked to score on an offensive drive via a cross or even from a corner kick the box often remained empty or with two RAGE players heavily guarded in pressure man defense. 

“I feel like we need to have more numbers inside the box especially for rebounds, because we had a couple today and we couldn’t convert,” Pelegrín said. “But also the other keeper was really good, and there are games sometimes where it feels like nothing goes right. Today, I think, was one of those days, where it was difficult to put the ball inside.”

Looking ahead to the next match against the No. 2-ranked Stockton Carg,o RAGE will need to play cohesively and capitalize on their offensive opportunities, as they will not be afforded many second chances. 

“Composure in front of the goal is key,” Head Coach Sarah Fawcett said. “To have 26 shots tonight and only score one is not the best situation to be in moving forward.” 

Fawcett furthered that RAGE needs more opportunistic players to be in opportunities to finish and read those moments. Throughout the game the forwards had opportunities to execute in front of the goal but paused a moment or looked for the extra pass. 

“We think that the person with the ball is going to beat all the players and get a goal so we relax– but they don’t [get a goal],” Fawcett said. “We need to have options in the box to finish.”

The Cargo have yet to lose a game this season and RAGE will need to execute a style of play that is more fast paced and might even stray from their usual 4-4-2 defensive shape and 3-4-3 on the attack . 

“We’ve never been in this position before. We’ve had more points than we probably had over the first two years of doing USL,” Fawcett said. “The prospect is exciting, so we’re going to think creatively about a game plan where we can attack them and create goal scoring opportunities like we did against the Glens.”