SMC Mens Soccer Pulls Out a Last Minute Win at Home

SMC Men's Soccer Gets a Last Minute Win Against Antelope Valley

Coming off a loss to the Chaffey Panthers last week, the Corsairs were hungry for a win against the Antelope Valley College Marauders on Tuesday.

With a slow start in the first half, the Corsairs fell behind in the first 6 minutes of the game as the Marauders forward, Jose Mojica, broke through the defense to give the Marauders the lead.

A lack of communication was the cost of giving up the first goal, but the Corsairs’ rearranged their game plan and with 14 minutes left of the first quarter Victor Tapia, at the forward position, found the back of the net with a vigorous strike to put the Corsair on the board.

“We wanted to win and defend our home, because we haven’t been defending our home, so it was important to score in the first half and hopefully take the lead,” said Tapia.

With a 1-1 score going into the second half, the Corsairs had the pressure to continue playing hard and try to win the game since they were winless in their last three home games.

The second half started off with both teams battling for possession of the ball and failed attempts to score and take the lead. Defender Erik Gomez was able to give the Corsairs the lead with a good tactic engaging from the left side as he broke past Antelope Valley defenders, putting his team up 2-1.

However, the Marauders were not ready to raise their white flag, counter attacking and putting pressure on the Corsairs. By way of a penalty kick, the Marauders were able to tie the score 2-2.

As the time began to drop the few people in the stadium, as well as the rest of the Corsairs’ sitting on the bench were screaming “GO BLUE! SCORE!” hoping that someone would score something before the game ended to break the tie. With roughly 5 minutes before the game ended, a controversial penalty kick awarded to the Corsairs had the Marauders coach up and yelling, “That is not a PK, sir,” referring to the referee.

Adam Ek, stood to take the penalty kick and with no hesitation he took the shot, successfully making its way past the goalkeeper, giving the Corsairs the winning lead 3-2. In excitement, the bench joined their teammates on the Corsair Field to congratulate them along with Coach Pierce on their first home game victory.

“I feel like our team is playing well, we are just not putting goals in and today we did. We put three goals in, so it’s about time!” said Coach Pierce. The Corsairs finally come up with a win at home and now look forward to play Cerritos in an away game next Friday, September 16 at 3:00 PM.