In its first win in two years, Moorpark College men’s soccer (1-6-0 overall) shutout Allan Hancock College’s Bulldogs (1-8-2 overall) on Friday afternoon at the Raiders Pitch, 3-0, in the third conference game of the season.

After Tuesday’s close loss to Citrus College, positive indications that the squad was starting to gel as a team finally bore fruit in the 26th minute when sophomore winger Alvaro Zambrano’s accurate shot into the bottom left-hand corner put the Raiders on the board, 1-0.

“Kudos to the goalkeeper, he did an outstanding job, again,” Head Coach Sean Roche said. “I felt very good about the workings of the two back lines. I thought they played well together. We’re playing ourselves back into shape.”

Goalkeeper Allan Montalvo was a standout in Moorpark’s defense, particularly when the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty kick for a foul in the penalty area in the 42nd minute. Montalvo correctly anticipated the direction of Adrian Diaz’s low shot when he dived to his right to deflect the ball clear.

“I watched his eyes man,” Montalvo said. “Just from experience as a goalie, you get to know different players body language. He looked one way and then the other. If he was going to fake it, you can just tell.”

It was a critical turning point in the game, because the Raiders maintained the lead at halftime and boosted its confidence that a win might possibly be in the cards. Playing in its third game in five days, the fatigue factor was expected to take its toll. Instead, it was the visitors who blinked first.

Felipe Luz, who came on as a sub in the second half, got a yellow card for a foul in the 69th minute. A minute later, he came close on a shot just wide of the right upright. And a minute after that, he scored on a shot, inside the right hand corner, that beat goalkeeper Humberto Figueroa. Being ahead 2-0 after losing six games in a row, the Raiders started to believe again.

Luz struck again, after a goalmouth scramble in the 76th minute, and Moorpark had a comfortable 3-0 lead with less than 15 minutes left in the game.

“[Even though] I was in the [clinic] when I hurt my foot in the last game, the coach put me in and I scored two goals,” Luz said. “The first goal I shoot from outside of the [penalty] area. The second goal was kind of luck because it nicked part of the [upright].”

Montalvo provided more heroics with a save in the 81st minute and another from a free kick near the end to preserve the Raiders shutout.

“You’re the team that brought back winning [to Moorpark] in over a season and a half,” Roche said to his players after the game. “We have to build on what we have done today. The door is now open for us to finish the rest of the season in a healthy position, just like any other team.”

Nothing succeeds like success!

The Raiders play at home on the Raiders Pitch today Oct. 6, against Glendale College at 4 p.m.