City College men’s soccer defeated Allan Hancock College 3-1 Friday night at La Playa Stadium in a physical affair filled with action.
Early in the game, Ameyawu Muntari (No. 10) got pulled to the ground by Hancock, which resulted in a penalty kick. Muntari collected himself and converted the kick to give the Vaqueros a 1-0 advantage early.
The penalty kick set the tone for the rest of the game as whistles continued to blow until the very end.
“It’s a contact sport so when it gets physical in games you’ve got to match the opponent,” said City College head coach John Sisterson. “You can’t let it get into your head.”
As the final minutes of the first half were in sight, a player from Hancock slid from behind Muntari in an illegal slide tackle that left Muntari on the turf yelling in pain. The player got a yellow card for the tackle, but Muntari managed to continue playing a few minutes later and played the rest of the game.
The score at the half was tied 1-1.
Muntari scored again early in the second half to give him his 7th goal of the season. He is second in scoring on the team.
Adrian Gamez (No. 28), second year City College student but first season on the team, scored his first career goal after teammate Matthew Wilkinson (No. 9) launched a shot that bounced off the crossbar and back into play.
“I just decided to kick the ball with my left foot,” said Gamez. “I’m not even a lefty so it was pretty exciting. It felt great to get my first goal.”
City College managed to get off frequent shots on goal, especially in the second half. Fluid passing kept the offense moving the ball around and opened up several chances.
“The second half was very good. I was happy with the way they played,” said Sisterson. “They really did turn it on.
They moved the ball quickly and efficiently and created a lot of opportunities.”
Multiple players from both teams received cards throughout the night. Three cards were drawn on tackles against Muntari.
After getting injured earlier in the game, Muntari got banged up again as he collided with a Hancock player midair.
Muntari again continued to play, showcasing his toughness.
The Hancock player was helped off the field and missed the rest of the game.
In the last matchup between these two teams, the Vaqueros won 4-2 at Allan Hancock.
“I think the mentality behind [the physical game] is that we beat them up there so they wanted to make it physical and they wanted to pull us out of the game,” said Sisterson. “But they didn’t and we competed well and got the rebound that we needed.”
After a 0-0 draw at Santa Monica in City College’s last game, the team is happy to expand onto the win column and remain undefeated.
The Vaqueros play next at 2 p.m. on Halloween against Oxnard.
“It feels great to remain undefeated,” said Gamez. “It feels like we have a big target on our back because everyone is coming for us. Our next game at Oxnard is going to be tough.”
City College improved to 12-0-4 on the season as Hancock dropped to 10-6-2
The team will return home to play LA Mission 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3 at La Playa Stadium.
