Owls Offense Explodes in First Victory of the Year
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chaffey (1-1-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
Citrus (1-2) | 3 | 2 | 5 |
Glendora, CA (Men's Soccer) -- After being held scoreless in their first two contests of the year, both losses, the Citrus College Men's Soccer team exploded for five goals on Tuesday night. The offensive explosion resulted in the Owls' first win of the year, as they beat visiting Chaffey College 5-2.
Citrus got the scoring going right away when sophomore Sergio Valencia got behind the Panther defense and sent a cross towards the box. The Chaffey keeper came out and misplayed the ball, as the ball bounced past the keeper, Citrus sophomore Josh Luevanos was there to put the ball in the back of the net and make it 1-0.
Chaffey would answer a little over three minutes later with a free kick from the top of the box, but Citrus took back the lead in the 34th minute thanks to a free kick of their own. Freshman Ismael Rodriguez sent a ball deep into the box, that passed the last line of the Chaffey defense including the Panthers keeper. Behind them was freshman Ryo Takamine who headed the ball home and made it 2-1.
Three minutes later, Citrus expanded their lead. Sophomore Sergio Valencia took a shot from around 20 yards out that completely fooled the Chaffey defense and keeper and made it 3-1 headed into halftime.
In the second half, Chaffey cut the Owls lead to one 3-2 in the 55th minute thanks to a corner kick. Citrus finally took some pressure off in the 75th minute when Josh Luevanos beat the entire Chaffey defense and drew a penalty in the box. Sophomore Diego Mercado would take the penalty shot and opted to go low and right. The Panther keeper blocked the ball, but Mercado followed his shot and blasted the ball back into the net to make it 4-2.
Citrus would put the game away for good in the 82nd minute. The Owls would earn a corner, that Mercado would take. Mercado sent a beautiful cross into the back right corner that found the head of freshman Pedro Felix and made it 5-2.
With the win, Citrus improves to 1-2 on the season. The Owls will get on the road for the next two contests beginning with Friday's game at Cypress College. First touch is set for 3:00 PM.