The Friday, Oct. 25 men’s soccer game goes to show how the hunger for goal scoring until the final whistle can rescue you from defeat.
The Cerritos College men’s soccer team ended afternoon’s game against Los Angeles Harbor College in a 1-1 draw.
Cerritos College’s goal was put away by sophomore attacking midfielder Thiago Lusardi. A hard pass was tossed Lusardi’s way and he lifted his leg to guide the ball to the back of the net.
The match proved to be a very physical game with many yellow card bookings and a sending off for the Cerritos College camp.
Winger Sophomore Yoni Garcia received a red card late in the second half. Garcia and a Harbor player both sprinted for the ball, when Garcia extended his leg to reach the ball first, but crashed into the Harbor player thus, conceding the booking.
Sophomore left back Ricardo Villegas noticed the toll the reduction in numbers took on the Cerritos College squad. “It was a tough game,” Villegas said. “We got a goal in the first half; that’s always our main goal. Toward the second half, (Los Angeles Harbor College) came back very strong (but) we held them for awhile.”
The defense attempted to hold off the Harbor barrage, but it could not hold out for long when in the final seconds of the match, Harbor scored a header and equalized.
Head coach Benny Artiaga was absent during the match and was not able to direct the men’s team. Although Artiaga is missing due to personal reasons, players like Villegas hope for his swift return to rally the team and lead them to victory.
A darkness that has fallen over the team is injuries. Injuries have caused many players of the starting line-ups to drop down and recuperate leaving the positions opened to the rookies, who in some cases, commit rookie mistakes.
There is no doubt that the training of recruits in the Cerritos College soccer program produces results, the records prove it, but the problem in the game against Los Angeles Harbor College was the introduction of fresh new players according to Lusardi.
“This is the first game we play without our starter defensive mid,” he said. “We lost our captain, we lost a couple key players against (Mt. San Antonio).”
Both the skipper and the center defensive midfielder were out due to knee injuries.
Lusardi believes that building team chemistry with the two new players is the key to the team’s success in the future.
