By LILIANA MARQUEZ
Returning players from the men’s soccer team faced the University of Redlands last Sunday during an exhibition game held at Weingart Stadium where the Redlands Bulldogs won 2-1.
The scrimmage was intended to let the East Los Angeles College coaches and returning players see how the team looks for the upcoming season.
The lack of forwards for the Huskies is a problem that both Head Coach Eddie Flores and Assistant Coach Felipe Bernal hope to solve.
The upcoming tryouts will take place on July 9, at 1 p.m. in ELAC’s Weingart Stadium and according to Flores, they hope to solve this issue.
With the help of some incoming freshman, the returning players faced the Bulldogs five months after their last official game of the 2011 season during the first round of playoffs.
During the 13th minute, ELAC’s goalkeeper Juan Escobar was able to stop a shot by the Bulldogs, preventing them from opening the score.
Two minutes later, midfielder Jimmy Espinal had a chance to score with a strong and powerful shot that went over the crossbar.
The Bulldogs dominated the first half with over seven goal attempts, while the Huskies had only three.
Redlands scored their first goal over minute 27 and the scrimmage went to halftime with a 1-0 score favoring the visiting team.
During the second half, the Huskies started strong, generating their first goal attempt during minute two, but the Bulldogs extended their advantage eight minutes later when they scored their second goal.
With 9 minutes left in the second half, midfielder Cesar Benitez delivered another shot which was generated after a counter attack move, but the ball went off the field.
One minute before the final whistle, ELAC’s work as a team paid off, and midfielder Yuchen Wang finished and scored the final goal of the game.
“This was a great opportunity to see how far we have to go in terms of condition. It’s clear that we’re out of shape. We are missing some players. One thing for sure is that we need forwards. If we can’t find any, we will have problems,” Flores said.
Defender Brian Hoist agreed with Flores about their lack of forwards: “I think it was a good start. We have to get back in condition, but I saw a lot of positive things.
“We definitely need forwards. That was our problem last year and it could also hurt us this year. We don’t have any natural scorers,” Hoist said.
“I agree with Flores, we need forwards and we also need a good tall last man. We were not in condition. The other team was, plus the freshmen have no college experience. Overall, we communicated and played with heart,” midfielder Dean Ramos said.