City College men’s soccer earned its first win of the season Tuesday night as the Vaqueros held off the Pasadena Lancers for a 2-1 victory at La Playa Stadium.
Freshman midfielder Erik Winnberg (No. 35) scored the game winner in the 50th minute. City College forward Callum Challinor (No. 12) fired a shot off the right post, and Winnberg was there to blast it home.
“He hit the post, and I was in the right place to put it in and make the goal,” Winnberg said. “It feels great to get our first win…finally.”
The Vaqueros started off strong, with freshman midfielder Kebba Nyang(No. 33) using some nice ball handling to fool a defender and score from 12 yards out in the 9th minute. It would be the only goal of the first half despite City College attempting 15 shots on goal, compared to only three for Pasadena. Head coach John Sisterson said he wanted his players to go in with an aggressive mentality.
“We told them before the game, ‘I want five shots from you and five shots from you’,” Sisterson said. “Go forward, be brave, and want to win the game. I felt we were the better team out there tonight.”
Pasadena blew an early chance to tie the game with a missed shot in the 29th minute. Midfielder Diego Gonzalez (No. 15) had a clean look from under ten yards out, but misfired putting the ball over the crossbar.
The crowd drew silent after a scary moment later in the half when Pasadena’s Victor Menchaca (No. 10) went high for a ball and his foot connected near the head of City College midfielder Simon Sebbah (No. 13). Sebbah went down immediately and Menchaca was given a yellow card. Sebbah proved to be okay and play went on without further intermission.
But Pasadena came out aggressive in the second half. In the 48th minute, Lancer forward Luis Ramirez (No. 11) made a nice crossing pass to Briley Venti (No. 22) who stopped, spun and scored from the top of the box to tie the game 1-1.
Two minutes later, City College stole back the momentum with Winnberg’s rebound goal. The play was set up with some impressive passing from the Vaqueros. The team looked confident in a match which they led almost the entire time.
“Everyone worked hard, kept moving the ball,” Winnberg said. “ I think that was the key to success.”
Tempers flared, as play seemed to become more physical near the end of the second half. Pasadena’s Gonzalez was given a red card and removed from the game when it appeared he struck a City College player who was already on the ground. The ejection forced Pasadena to play the final 15 minutes short one player.
“Sometimes that happens,” Sisterson said. “You’re losing the game, you’re down a man, and you just throw the kitchen sink at everybody.”
“We survived, and you’ve got to defend if you want to win. Tonight we defended well.”
The Vaqueros begin conference play 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 in an away game against Allan Hitchcock.
