Moorpark College men’s soccer faced Allan Hancock College on Oct. 26, looking to build off their previous win. However, Allan Hancock emerged victorious over Moorpark 3-2 in an intense match that was decided in its final minutes.

Allan Hancock controlled the first half of play, securing a goal in the first few minutes and another one late in the half, while Moorpark struggled to move the ball downfield. Moorpark had opportunities in this half but was unable to capitalize on them, leaving a lot of ground to make up for in the second half.

Moorpark was quick to bounce back in the second half. Sophomore forward Alec Silva scored off of a header, putting Moorpark on the board. Silva spoke on how the team was able to bounce back after being shut out in the first half.

“We knew we had goals out there,” Silva stated. “We left a lot of chances on the table in the first half, and we knew we had to finish those goals off.”

Throughout the second half, Moorpark looked to be more in control of the game both on offense and defense, as the team did not allow any goals to be scored against it until the final minutes of the half.

Coming down to the end of the second half, Silva was able to secure his second goal of the game on a powerful breakaway kick, which tied the game up 2-2.

In the final minutes of the game, however, Allan Hancock’s sophomore midfielder Josue Celio scored an exceptional goal, which gave his team a 3-2 lead. This would end up being the final score of the game.

“As a team we were able to focus all 90 minutes,” Celio said. “It’s a team effort, and even with the other team coming back we were able to stay locked in. With the final goal, I started from the back, and my teammate was able to give me a good assist and I was able to finish it off.”

Moorpark assistant coach Ryan Woods talked about the adjustments that were made going into the second half, and what the team needed to improve on going forward.

“Talking through the tactics and improving on what went wrong in the first half, we had a lot of chances in that first half that we couldn’t follow through on,” Woods said. “And, the same goes for the second half. We just need to do a better job of finishing these games and taking advantage of the opportunities we’re given.”

This marked Moorpark’s 9th loss of the year, which brought their record to 7-9-1 at the time.