TAFT – Sophomore Jennifer Vera scored three goals and added an assist to help lead the No. 12-seeded Taft College women's soccer team to a 6-1 win over No. 21 seed Butte College on Wednesday in the opening round of the Northern California Regional Playoffs.

Vera secured her hat trick over the first 20 minutes of the game to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Celine Corona added two goals and Delia Bocanegra also scored for TC.

Taft, now 14-4-3 overall, advances to the second round and will play at No. 5 Fresno City College on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. It marks the third time the two Central Valley Conference foes will face each other this season. TC was a 1-0 winner at home over the Rams on Sep. 30 while FCC defeated the Cougars 3-1 at home on Oct. 25.

The winner of Saturday's match will move on to a third-round game against either No. 4 City College of San Francisco or No. 13 Reedley College on Tuesday (Nov. 22).

Three more wins are needed by Taft to advance to the 2022 CCCAA State Championships on Dec. 2 & 4 at American River College in Sacramento.