Despite out shooting the Chaffey College Panthers 28-10, the City College men’s soccer team failed to capitalize in the 3-1 loss and fell to 4-1 in the standings.
Both teams were playing aggressively during the first half. Good defense kept the game scoreless until the 34th minute when the Panthers scored twice in three minutes due to costly mistakes made by the Vaqueros.
The Vaqueros managed to create 28 shots, however only seven were on the goal. In comparison, the Panthers had five of their ten shots on the goal, including their three goals.
“It was very frustrating,” head coach John Sisterson said. “We just couldn’t hit the target.”
The only City College goal came five minutes into the second half by sophomore midfielder Jonathan Mora (No. 2), who now has three goals on the season. The Vaqueros had a golden opportunity late in the first half after a corner kick. They were able to create two shots, the first one forced Panther goalie Jesus Meza (No. 1) to dive to make a save and leave the goal open, then the second shot was stopped by a defender just before it went in.
During the very physical and aggressive game, several players on both teams were given yellow cards, including Chaffey player Gustavo Larios (No. 12) for dragging down a City College player breaking away towards the goal late in the game.
The Vaqueros defense played very well for most of the game. They won most of the battles against the Panthers offense and controlled the ball.
“We won most of the headers,” said sophomore defender Mirza Dizdarevic (No. 15). “But it’s not enough, we do small mistakes and they punish us.”
Dizdarevic was a stand out on defense for City College. He made several key take aways during the game and got the ball off their side of the field.
“I think Mirza was probably the man of the match,” said Sisterson. “He played very well.”
This loss drops City College from No. 4 in the state to No. 10. The Vaqueros will still start ranked No. 1 in the Western State Conference. Despite the loss, team moral is high and everyone on the team feels like they are ready for conference play.
“We‘re a solid team,” said Dizdarevic. “The chemistry is on top and I think we will just smash other teams.”
The conference opener will be against Allan Hancock College at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, at La Playa Stadium.
“The team moral this year is the best moral I’ve played with before,” said freshman defender Johan Mauritzson (No. 14). “That’s what I think is going to drive us forward in the conference this year.”
