By Noe Ortega
Men’s soccer finished its season with a 1-0 loss to El Camino College on Friday.
East Los Angeles College finished in fourth place in the South Coast Conference Championship Tournament and finished its season with six wins, 14 losses ,and three draws.
The Huskies made it past the first round after a 1-1 tie against Long Beach City College, and ELAC advanced on penalties 4-1.
ELAC then faced Mount San Antonio College to try to secure a spot in the championship game, but lost 4-1.
In the second half, El Camino had a corner kick that was crossed in by freshman midfielder Melvyn Perez-Cortez towards ELAC freshman goalkeeper Oscar Ponce’s right post.
The ball looked like it was going to go out, but freshman forward Cristo Deras head it back into the penalty box and found sophomore midfielder Armando Alonzo so he can score the only goal of the game.
Although ELAC lost by one goal, it was an even game due to Ponce’s seven saves.
“I thought it was an even game. We didn’t convert, but I told the players that they should be proud of what they’ve done,” said ELAC head coach Eddie Flores,said
El Camino put constant pressure on the Huskies in the first half with more possession of the ball and shots on goal.
El Camino finished the game with 19 shots and ELAC finished with 11 shots.
“As a coach, the biggest joy for me, is to be able to help young men like Oscar elevate his game, and take his game to the next level.
All we can do is facilitate that process, the rest is up to that player,” said ELAC goalkeeper trainer, Richard Santos.
“I think he exceeded expectations. I was always impressed by his skills when we first saw him, but I was always impressed by his work ethic and his drive,” Santos said.
While ELAC had a rough start to the game and seemed to wake up and put more pressure after conceding a goal in the second half.
“We still have a lot to build up on and have a lot to work on, but I couldn’t be more proud with the group that we have and the effort that we put in this game,” Ponce. said.
The Huskies had a chance in the final minutes of the game after the ball was crossed into the penalty box.
It was stopped by freshman center back Hugo Robert who controlled the ball and passed it to sophomore forward Jowad Abraham who had a one-on-one against El Camino freshman goalkeeper Luis Garibay.
Abraham took the shot, but Garibay blocked the shot with the edge of his fingers to prevent the game from going to penalties. Garibay finished the game with four saves.