City College picked up another conference win at home Friday afternoon, defeating Moorpark College 2-1.
With only three games remaining in conference play, every game is do or die for the team as they are battling to get into the playoffs.
City College opened up the scoring at the 27-minute mark of the first half. Freshman Wayne McClellan switched the ball to a wide-open Christopher Robinson, who dribbled the ball onto his right foot and put it past the Moorpark goalie into the bottom right corner.
“I got a really good pass from Wayne, he put me through on goal and I just finished it,” Robinson said.
Four minutes later, City College added to its lead when the Moorpark goalkeeper picked up a back pass from his own defender, consequently rewarding the Vaqueros an indirect free-kick just inside the left side of the 18-yard box.
JahMikaili Hutton rolled the ball to Luiz Garcia who then curled it into the right corner, making it Garcia’s first goal of the season.
“It was an indirect free kick so someone had to touch it first,” said Garcia. “The wall was set more to the left so I hit it to the right side.”
The team controlled much of the first half outshooting Moorpark 6-5 and went into halftime with a 2-0 lead.
City College got off to a slow start in the second half, conceding a goal just five minutes in. It came after Moorpark defender Angel Rubalcaba played a pass to forward Jason Bar, who took it off his thigh and ripped it past the goalkeeper.
Moorpark College gained momentum after the early goal and had the Vaqueros on their heels for much of the second half.
“It was poor from us in the second half, they were attacking us a lot in the second half trying to get the equalizer,” said Assistant Coach Matt Wilkinson.
Moorpark outshot the Vaqueros 10-2 in the second half and came close to tying up the score on various occasions. However, City College goalkeeper Patrick Mahon rose to the occasion, making some crucial saves as the game was winding down.
“Good teams win games when playing badly, we have definitely played better than today in the past and lost, and played worse and won but that’s just how the game goes sometimes,” Wilkinson said. “The important thing is that they saw it through. That shows good heart and resilience.”
With only one day to regroup and recover, the Vaqueros are back in action Sunday afternoon at home for a makeup match against Santa Monica, which was previously canceled due to the Getty Fire.
