With a new record of 2-2-1, Moorpark College’s Men’s Soccer team defeated Glendale College in a high-scoring, back and forth game on Friday Sept. 15. The Raiders scored their final goal off of a penalty kick in the 87th minute, leading them to a 4-3 win.
“In the first half, I thought we had a pretty good spell of possession but in the second half it just seemed like the whole game was in transition,” said Head Coach Jake Gwin. “We had the ball, we lost the ball, we had the ball, we lost the ball, and they [Glendale] were doing the same.”
During the first half, Glendale College scored the first goal of the game in the 39th minute. Within the same minute, Left and Right Wing player, Cesar Ramirez, scored Moorpark College’s first goal. Shortly after, Moorpark’s center forward, Caleb Malabo, scored in the 42nd minute, leading the Raiders 2-1.
“I thought we played good today,” said Malabo. “We switched the ball good and we had a lot of opportunities. We could have finished more though.”
Within the second half of the game, both teams scored two goals. Attacking Midfield player, Jonathan Ramirez, scored Moorpark’s third goal in 39th minute, leading the Raiders 3-1.
However, Glendale came back and scored two goals, tying up the game in the 71st minute. In the last few minutes of the game, Ramirez scored the Raider’s final goal that won them the game.
“We started playing really well,” said Center-back, Jose Ramos. “Unfortunately, there were some bad calls that caused them [Glendale] to score on us and set us back, but we were able to come back and score one more goal on them and we won 4-3 which is nice.”
Despite the fact that Moorpark had only four shots on goal throughout the game they scored on each one of them, coach Gwin believes that his team could have capitalized on the various other scoring opportunities they had.
“We did score some nice goals,” said Gwin. “I still think we left a couple goals out there and we could have put the game away pretty easily, but I’m happy to get four goals. We just gotta make sure on the flip side we don’t give up two or three goals.”
Furthermore, even though Moorpark College won on their home field and scored some impressive goals, Gwin believes there are still some areas in which the team can improve upon.
“We’re still making some major errors,” said Gwin. “Nothing physical or technical, [but] we’re making major mental errors which is one of those things I have trouble dealing with. Your touch is one thing and your positioning is one thing, but a decision is another and you have to have total control over that,” said Gwin.
Even with some mental errors in the game the Raiders were able to pull out a last minute win after outplaying Glendale throughout the game.
“It was a tough game today,” said Ramirez. “It [the game] was back and forth but we stood our ground and we got that W.”
Moorpark College Men’s soccer team will play their next game at Rio Hondo on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. Later in the week, the Raider’s will play at Citrus College on Friday Sept. 22 at 2 p.m.
