By: Noe Ortega
A lack of scoring from men’s soccer attackers in key moments of the game resulted in an away loss to Pasadena City College 3-2 on Friday.
The Huskies lost their first game of the South Coast Conference-North and now stand 3-5-2 overall and 1-1 in conference.
In an intense back-and-forth game, PCC came back twice and won the match in the last minutes of the game.
Even though the Huskies went up in score twice, East Los Angeles College head coach Eddie Flores said he didn’t believe his team played well.
“We played 20 minutes of soccer and, at the end of the game, we had 13 shots on goal. We did not convert. They (PCC) had what they had and they converted. That’s the way the game is. We could’ve put them away, but we decided to let them get back in the game. We defensively gave up two goals and paid the price,“ said Flores.
ELAC ended the game with 18 shots, 13 of them came in the second half , and four were saved by PCC freshman goalkeeper Steven Sandoval.
“It’s pretty pathetic on the part of our forwards. I think the coaches did the best that we can do, but at the end of the day, they have got to produce and if they don’t produce, then this is the result that we get,” said Flores.
With four minutes left in the game, PCC sophomore defender Bryce Watson made a long throw-in pass through ELAC’s defense, where freshman midfielder Santana Nunez was left wide open to score and the game winner.
“We played exceptionally well. We created the opportunities. We executed what we practiced, but our shots just didn’t go in. We got unlucky today, but overall as a unit we played our system,” said ELAC freshman midfielder Juan Adona.
The Huskies took an early lead five minutes into the game, after a free kick was given to ELAC from the midfield line. Freshman midfielder Paulo Macedo Nahashique kicked the ball deep into PCC’s penalty box area and sophomore midfielder Sergio Chaidez shot the ball in the bottom left corner and scored.
PCC responded five minutes later with a free kick that was a similar distance to ELAC’s first goal.
PCC sophomore forward Anthony Jimenez kicked the ball into ELAC’s penalty box and freshman defender Jonathan Mariona out-jumped ELAC’s defense, leaving freshman midfielder Alexis Guzman alone to score and tie the game.
Nine minutes into the second half, freshman defender Vicente Herencia had possession of the ball on the right side of the field and curved the ball just outside of the penalty box.
ELAC freshman forward Denilson Rivera was able to capitalize off of a miscommunication between PCC sophomore midfielder Joshua Moran and Sandoval by outjumping both of them and scoring a header to go ahead 2-1.
The Huskies next game will be on Tuesday in another SCC-North game as they visit Mount San Antonio College at 6 p.m.