Men's soccer gears up with preseason play

The Santa Monica College men's soccer team opened preseason with a big 3-0 win on the road against the College of the Desert Roadrunners last Tuesday.

Patrick Acosta, SMC's goalie, had major praise for teammate Oskar Martinsson, a new forward on the team from Sweden, who scored two goals.

"Great player; he's very tall," said Acosta. "He moves and he gets in the pockets. He had two goals that were counted against, but he did have two, and he assisted on the other goal."

Martinsson's assist was on the goal scored by Johnny Navas.

The first game was pretty laid back, with SMC goalies always in control.

"Everybody was waiting anxiously," said Acosta. "Everybody was very fired up for our first preseason game together."

Acosta was a big factor in preserving the shutout by holding off late scoring attempts made by the Roadrunners.

The second preseason game was on Friday, also away from home, against Santiago Canyon College. The match ended in a tough 4-1 loss. Santiago Canyon was ready to avenge last year's loss to SMC.

The second game was another warm-up challenge for head coach Tim Pierce's fiercely competitive Corsairs.

The team plays two more preseason games at home, against Pasadena City College on Sept. 6 and El Camino College on Sept. 13, before they open up Western State Conference play on Sept. 17 against the Oxnard College Condors.