With a total of 13 games underway, Moorpark College’s Men’s Soccer team has a current record of 3-7-4 with 17 goals scored and seven assists.
Over the past eight games, the Raiders have lost four games, tied three, and won one. Overall, the team is ranked 1-3-1 in conference with only five games left in the season.
Despite Moorpark’s strong effort and determination this season, the team lost 4-0 against Rio Hondo on Sept. 19 and 4-0 against Citrus College on Sept. 22.
Within two months, the Raiders tied a few very close and nerve-racking games. On Sept. 26, the Raiders played a tough home game against Antelope Valley. Attacking midfielder Jonathan Ramirez scored the second goal of the game off of a penalty kick to end the game in a 1-1 tie. Both goal keepers from each team blocked seven shots and gave up one goal.
“We were a little bit unlucky in front of the goal,” said head coach Jake Gwin. “They [Antelope Valley] had a really good goalie that stopped some great saves. It was a pretty even match I thought.”
Within the last minute of the game, Antelope Valley had a shot on goal that hit the post and coach Gwin believes the Raiders were very lucky to end in a tie.
“In all honesty, that game was really wide open,” said Gwin. “Each team had some opportunities to win it.”
Proceeding into October, the Raiders also tied 0-0 with Norco College on Oct. 3 and 1-1 with LA Mission on Oct. 13. Center forward Caleb Malabo scored a goal against LA Mission in the 20th minute to tie up the game.
However, the Raiders lost 3-1 against Santa Monica College on Oct. 10 and 6-0 against Santa Barbara on Oct. 20. Defender Oscar Ramos scored Moorpark’s only goal against Santa Monica.
“The quality of the opponent between Santa Monica and Santa Barbara was comparable,” said Gwin.
Even though the Raiders gave up a total of nine goals in two games, coach Gwin believes there were some positives to take away from each game.
“While I’m not happy about giving up all those goals, the performance in each of those games was pretty good,” said Gwin. “They [Moorpark] brought some effort and they brought some spirit and fight to the game.”
On Oct. 17, Moorpark faced another tough loss against Allan Hancock. Even though the Raiders had 12 shots throughout the game, the team lost 6-1. Left and right wing Cesar Ramirez scored Moorpark’s only goal in the second half, making the score 3-1.
“The Allan Hancock game was just really out of character,” said Gwin. “We gave up an early goal, we actually gave up an early goal in all of the games and it’s difficult to fight back against good teams when you give up an early goal.”
Despite the fact that Allan Hancock scored four goals in the second half of the game, the Raiders stood their ground and continued to challenge their opponent.
“We actually did fight back and we took control of the game quite a bit,” said Gwin. “At 3-1, we had a penalty to make it 3-2 and really gain some momentum but we missed the penalty.”
Despite a number of tough losses for the Raiders, the team turned around and defeated Oxnard College 4-3 on Oct. 24. Malabo scored Moorpark’s first two goals of the game, the second goal off of an assist by Ramirez. Ramirez also assisted a goal in the second half by winger and striker Jordi Arellano and center forward Jose Gonzalez scored the winning goal of the game.
The Raiders will play their next game against Santa Monica College on Oct. 27 at Moorpark College.
