By Liliana Marquez
The men’s soccer team earned a draw after scoring a late goal on their second conference match versus L.A. Harbor last week at Weingart Stadium.
With a final score of 1-1, the Huskies tied for the second time, remaining undefeated in conference play. They played to a draw in their first conference game last week at Long Beach, thanks to late goal by Danny Suarez. The Huskies were looking for their first victory in the conference but they faced a strong and difficult game where they missed a lot of opportunities.
Not having Head Coach Eddie Flores present was crucial for the final result. A moment of silence was held before kick off in memory of Assistant Coach Felipe Bernal’s brother who passed away.
After that, the referee blew the whistle and two minutes in, the Seahawks took a weak shot and missed their first opportunity to open the scoring. At the fourth minute, Kevin Gomez had the first goal opportunity for the Huskies, but his shot was weak and off target.
In the sixth minute, Guannan Wang was awarded an indirect free kick and Dean Ramos was able to take a shot which was blocked by the Seahawk’s defense. A foul was committed over Javier Campos at the nine minute mark, and Guannan Wang took the shot which was stopped by the opposing goalkeeper without difficulty.
Two minutes later, Ramos had a wonderful opportunity, but he was not able to finish it. During the 14th minute, the Seahawks were awarded a free kick, but ELAC’s barrier was there to send the shot off the field.
Up to that point, both teams had good opportunities to score, but some of their moves went unfinished. At the 21st minute, the Seahawks were on the attack, but Jean Gonzalez stole the ball to prevent a goal. At the 25th minute, ELAC had two goal opportunities when a shot by Adolfo Larios passed next to the post.
This was followed by another shot by Salvador Medrano, but the goalkeeper was able to intercept the ball and prevent ELAC from scoring. ELAC’s defense was tested during minute 31, when defender Galo Moreno was able to block two shots with his head to keep the score 0-0.
A foul against Danny Suarez at minute 43 gave Guannan Wang an opportunity to open the scoring, but the Huskies were called offside.
In the 39th minute ELAC’s throw in by Moreno gave Suarez a great opportunity with a bicycle kick but the shot was weak. At the 41st minute, ELAC took a shot that did not look threatening, but the opposing goalkeeper almost let the ball slip off his hands, making of this one of the most dangerous situations for both teams up to that point.
The following minutes were exciting as both teams tried to score and go to break leading the match, but they left for halftime with a score of 0-0. The second half kicked off with both teams putting pressure on each other, thirsty for victory.
During the 46th minute, a foul was committed against Suarez. Gonzalez took a shot and Moreno had the opportunity to score with a header, but his shot went off the post.
This was followed by a pass of Suarez to Omar Garcia, but the opposing goalkeeper and one of their defenders were able to prevent ELAC from scoring, It was the 53rd minute and the Huskies had another chance to score, but Suarez gave a wrong pass and Harbor stole the ball.
The first goal came at the 68th minute, when Harbor took advantage of a foul committed against ELAC and were able to score. Three minutes later Garcia had a great opportunity with a strong shot, but the Seahawk’s goalkeeper was able to stop the ball.
At the 73rd minute, a foul was committed against ELAC, Guannan Wang took the shot, and Suarez gave a powerful header that the goalkeeper stopped without difficulties.
The referee booked Ramos with a yellow card nine minutes before the end of the match. The game was about to end, every minute counted for ELAC.
Their defense needed to keep the rivals away from the post and allow the rest of the team to take advantage of every move. ELAC’s moment came at the 87th minute, when Suarez gave a pass to Garcia who was able to slip the ball in and score the equalizer.
It was not over yet, the Huskies wanted to win this and they kept trying until the final whistle. At the 88th minute mark, Suarez was booked with a yellow card, as well as one of the Seahawks.
ELAC kept attacking until the last minute of the game and their,the supporters were expecting great moves and the Huskies did not fail. ELAC scored another goal but was waived off by and offside call disallowing the goal.
After the final whistle, Assistant Coach Felipe Bernal shared his thoughts on the match, “It was a strong and physical game. Not a good mental game. We found a way to comeback but we deserved the score,” he said.
Kevin Gomez, who had an outstanding performance, said that for him the Huskies had a good game, and they deserved to win.
“We were a little better, we could have turned it around,” said goal scorer, Omar Garcia.