Corsairs Sophomores Honored: Soar Over Eagles

Andy Naidu (8 left) kneels during the national anthem before the soccer game between Santa Monica College's Corsairs and L.A. Mission College's Eagles at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, Nov 7th 2017. The game ended in a win for the Corsairs with a final score of 2-1. (Photo by: Thane Fernandes)

The Corsairs celebrate their first goal scored by Cesar Oliva (4 left) during the soccer game between the Santa Monica College's Corsairs and L.A. Mission College's Eagles at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, Nov 7th 2017. The game ended in a win for the Corsairs with a final score of 2-1. (Photo by: Thane Fernandes)

Cyrille Njomo (CQ) (17 middle) tripped when running with the ball during the soccer game between Santa Monica College's Corsairs and L.A. Mission College's Eagles at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, Nov 7th 2017. The game ended in a win for the Corsairs with a final score of 2-1. (Photo by: Thane Fernandes)

Andy Naidu (8 right) jumps to kick the ball as Elijah Patyk (5 left) lifts up his leg to kick the ball during the soccer game between Santa Monica College's Corsairs and L.A. Mission College's Eagles at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, Nov 7th 2017. The game ended in a win for the Corsairs with a final score of 2-1. (Photo by: Thane Fernandes)

Chris Negrete (9 right) runs around Javier Moran (11 left) to get the ball during the soccer game between Santa Monica College's Corsairs and L.A. Mission College's Eagles at the Corsair Stadium at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, Nov 7th 2017. Earlier in the game, Chris got a bloody nose after bumping into another player and had cotton in his nose to prevent further bleeding. The game ended in a win for the Corsairs with a final score of 2-1. (Photo by: Thane Fernandes)

In a game where the Sophomore's were being honored, the Santa Monica College Corsairs Men's Soccer team hosted the Los Angeles Mission Eagles. It was SMC's final home game of the season at the Corsair Field on Tuesday Nov. 7 2017.

Sophomore night honored: Idaul Ezquivel, Rudi Ibrahim, Kevin Martinez, Andy Naidu, Chris Negrete, Oscar Palacios, Danny Hernandez, Marek Strzelczyk, and Carlos Rincon as they are near the end of their tenure at Santa Monica College.

Once the game began, it was a tightly contested battle between the two colleges, as the Corsairs struck first in the first half on goals from Cesar Oliva, and Kevin Martinez which made the score 2-0.

The Eagles would respond at the midway point of the second half, to cut the deficit to one. Despite some open looks from the opposition, the Corsairs would eventually hang on to win by a score of 2-1, and improved their to 13-2-5, good for second in the division.

When asked about the importance about this victory, Head Coach Tim Pierce said, "It was huge. We had a really tough one last game. We didn't quite get the results that we wanted...we had a comfortable lead, we had to grind, and it was a huge, massive win."

Andy Naidu, who had the lone assist on Martinez's goal in the first half, was one of the few sophomores that were honored before the game. The sophomore describes the emotion of the team after the win. "I think it was a hard fought win," Naidu said. "Since we played at their home, it's always been a battle. I think today we came out buzzing, and we were the team that wanted to win more."