The Moorpark Raiders men’s soccer team are the defending Western State Champions, and with that title comes a target on their back for the following season. Every team wants to knock off the champions and that was the case when underdog Oxnard College faced off against Moorpark.

The Raiders were riding high on a wave of momentum after coming up with a key win against the No. 3 ranked team in the state, Orange Coast College. Adding to the wave offensive star Patrick Smith was named the player of the week.

Oxnard, who was winless going into this game, was looking to pull off the David and Goliath roll and upset the defending champions. This task would not come with ease. Oxnard would have to throw everything they had at the Raiders to have a shot and to come away with a victory. Oxnard looked determined to show that they belong on the same field as the Raiders.

Throughout the game it was a tug of war. Both sides went back and forth without scoring a goal. “We played well throughout the game, but got unlucky,” said Moorpark Coach Sean Roche. Oxnard had multiple one on one shots against Stuart Kozlenko the Raiders goalkeeper. But Kozlenko came up with many miraculous stops that ended up swinging the momentum. Oxnard also did a good job at shutting down the Moorpark offensive stars Smith and Paul Lupanow.

The game ended up in a tie at 0-0, the Raiders proved why they are the defending champions by being able to keep the game close without playing on top of their game. For Oxnard they have motivation going into their next game knowing if they could stick with the defending Western State Champions then they could stick with just about any team in the league.