SMC Advances to Round Three of Playoffs to Play Cerritos College
Santa Monica College (SMC) mens soccer team advances to the 2018 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional semi-finals. SMC mens soccer defeated the Santa Ana Dons 2-1 on Tuesday, November 20. SMC has never made it this far into the CCCAA playoff tournament, just one win away from the state championship game.
The game was dominated by the Corsairs. The Corsairs finished the game with 15 attempted shots with six on goal, while holding Santa Ana to only five attempts. The Corsairs received four yellow cards throughout the game but managed to avoid receiving a red card. The only red card was issued to Santa Ana’s Frankie Camacho in the 90’ after receiving his second yellow. Penalties have seemed to be a problem for the Corsairs, but it hasn’t prevented them from winning games. Head Coach Tim Pierce prepared for this game by giving his team Sunday off, and says, “we’re going to have to go back to passing the ball, sharing the ball and moving around the pitch a little bit. When we play great, we’re sharing the ball, but when it gets individual there’s no rhythm, and we have got to get back to having a rhythm out there.”
The Corsairs first goal came just over 10 minutes into the second half from Captain Narciso Cervantes, who also scored on Saturday during the first round of playoffs. This was only Cervantes’ sixth goal of the season, which proved to be vital for the Corsairs. The Corsairs didn’t stop at just one goal, SMC’s leading scorer, Cyrille Njomo, scored in the 88’ to put the Corsairs up 2-0. The Dons responded just 10 minutes later with a goal scored by Miguel Comes, but it wasn’t enough. The Corsairs have been notorious this season for keeping opposing teams from scoring, so it is no shocker the Corsairs didn’t give up another goal with such short time to play.
The Corsairs will play the number one team in the state, the Cerritos Falcons, in the third round of playoffs. The game will be played at Cerritos College which gives them the home field advantage. Cerritos went 17-1-2 during regular season while the Corsairs went 15-2-4. The last playoff meeting between these two competitive teams was last year in the second round at Cerritos College when the Falcons ended the Corsairs’ season by a score of 2-1. The Corsairs will look for revenge as they will attempt to continue this historic season. This is two great dynamic teams going head to head in a win or go home situation and will be a game you do not want to miss.