Moorpark College (2-10-2) was down 3-0 with little time left, but came storming back with two goals that gave the Vaqueros (4-7-4) some anxious moments in a late game under the lights at Glendale College on Friday.
According to eyewitness accounts, the Raiders controlled possession 70/30 in a scoreless first half. As on so many occasions this season, they couldn’t convert their chances into goals. The Vaqueros rode herd on the Raiders early in the second half and had three quick strikes within a 10 minute period.
Alert play by Glendale’s offense caught Moorpark’s goalkeeper Allan Montalvo off his line. A long ball launched over his head and landed into the empty net for the Vaqueros’ opening goal in the 56th minute.
The home team got credit for the second goal two minutes later when the Raiders’ winger Alvaro Zambrano attempted to clear his line. He had the misfortune of hitting the ball past Montalvo into his team’s own net for a goal.
Glendale’s third goal struck again almost immediately when they scored directly from a free kick just outside the Raiders penalty area in the 62nd minute.
With Ivan Corona Ramirez now in goal and the game seemingly out of reach for Moorpark, freshman winger Felipe Luz struck back with a goal on an assist from midfielder Sam Curren to make it 3-1 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Almost immediately on the restart, Luz was fouled in the penalty area and the perpetrator was shown a red card and tossed out of the game. Nate Johnson made no mistake with the penalty kick, and suddenly, the Raiders were alive and fighting with time running out.
“The other team fouled Felipe in the box for a penalty kick,” said Curren. “They got a red card and Nathaniel Johnson scored it. We proceeded to dominate, [but by] then the game was over.”
The Raiders travel to Sylmar on Tuesday for the return leg of the WSC match-up against conference leader LA Mission College at 2 p.m. Moorpark lost the home leg, 3-1, in October and would like to finish the regular men’s soccer season this week with a win.
