Men's Soccer All Tied Up

The Santa Monica College men’s soccer team continued their undefeated streak with back-to-back away games against Oxnard College on Sept. 11 and Moorpark College on Sept. 14, both resulting in 2-2 ties. Even though they have not lost a game, there were plenty of opportunities for SMC to pull out wins, according to head coach Tim Pierce.

“We don’t come out thinking that we’re in a game until we go down,” Pierce said, about the early giveaway points in both games. “For some reason, the last couple of games, we’ve come out a little flat.”

In the opening minutes of the game against Moorpark, SMC allowed a goal in the fourth minute to Brandon Lara, and another in the sixth minute to Emanuel Munguia.

In both games, the Corsairs found themselves down 2-0 early , but came back strong, scoring before the end of the first half.

“I think we were the aggressor and took it to them,” Pierce said. “We played with some urgency and forced the game and forced the issue a bit. I think we were the better team the second half.”

A key turn-around moment for SMC was when freshman forward Rafael Silva scored his first goal of the season at the 30 -minute mark.

“It was my first goal; I was so happy,” Silva said.

SMC forward Alessandro Canale scored a goal in the beginning of the second half to tie the game. The Corsairs had enough time to take the lead, but they were not able to capitalize.

Although pleased with the team’s overall effort and impressed that the team was able to come back from a 2-0 deficit, Pierce was not too excited about the 2-2 tie.

“I was a little disappointed that we weren’t able to win the game,” Pierce said.

SMC controlled much of the second half by being the aggressor. The Corsairs repeatedly could not find the back of the net, but no shot came closer than Canale’s, which bounced off the goal post in extra time.

Freshman Alessandro Canale continued his stellar play, scoring all four goals in a 4-1 SMC victory over Allan Hancock College on Tuesday, Sept. 18.  Freshman Eric Fakhourian left the game in the first half with an ankle injury, but is not expected to miss any time.  The Corsairs continue their road swing against Palomar this Friday Sept. 21