City College’s men’s soccer team beat Allan Hancock on Oct. 15 with a final score of 2-1, along with a Raíces Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at La Playa Stadium.
The Allan Hancock Bulldogs kicked off to start the game, but the Vaqueros quickly gained possession and started communicating with each-other. After a back and forth battle, the Bulldogs scored due to an error made by the Vaqueros goalkeeper, Miles Keane, bringing the score to 1-0.
“There were some moments where we [coaches] had to coach them up a bit, but overall it showed as a team we were determined,” Assistant Coach Adrian Gonzalez said.
Vaqueros midfielder Aiden Tapia-Palacios scored in the first half after a free kick. The crowd erupted in cheers and the score became tied at 1-1.
In the middle of the first half, the game became extremely aggressive, with numerous yellow cards given throughout the game to both teams.
The Bulldogs began to dominate on offense toward the middle of the first half, but the Vaqueros kept the pressure.
Vaqueros forward Juan Carlos Torres attempted a header near the left goal post to make the score 2-1, but narrowly missed the shot.
Moments later after battling to get the ball back, the Vaqueros scored, bringing the score to 2-1. Forward Payton Rodgers headed the ball past the Bulldogs goalkeeper to gain the lead.
“It was a moment for us as a team to emerge from the adversity and have the ability to continue and fix what we needed to in the first place,” Coach Gonzalez said.
A minute after City College scored, the whistle blew to begin halftime.
Oct. 15 was the last day of Hispanic Heritage Month and Raíces held a special event celebration during halftime. This included a dance performance by UCSB’s folklórico group, Raíces De Mi Tierra.
This is Raíce’s second Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at a soccer game this year.
“We wanted to do a double event where we celebrated at the women’s soccer game and at the men’s soccer game,” Raíces program coordinator Sergio A Lagunas said. “What’s amazing is the community showed up both nights.”
Raíces is planning to do more events during sports games in hopes of involving the community once again. After this event, the second half began.
City College kicked off, but the Bulldogs gained possession to start the second half.
The Vaqueros gained back possession from the Bulldogs and battled with their defense to try and score. City College attempted to make shots, but the Bulldogs defense didn’t let anything get past them.
The Bulldogs pressured the Vaqueros defense hoping to tie the game, but the score remained 2-1.
Torres gave a fast and strong shot on the goal in an attempt to make the score 3-1, but the Bulldogs goalkeeper responded quickly with a block.
Toward the end of the second half, the Bulldogs tried to tie the game with multiple shots, but the Vaqueros defense and goalkeeper didn’t allow it.
The Vaqueros defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 to start the official conference season and will take on Oxnard College on Oct. 18 at La Playa Stadium. Coach Gonzalez says the team will continue to push and motivate one another for the rest of the upcoming conference games.
