Rams Continue March Toward North Division Men’s Soccer Title with 2-0 Win Over Foothill College

By Grace Hernandez Rovelo

 

In an intense defensive game, the Rams men’s soccer team surged in the second half of play to edge Foothill College 2-0 on Oct. 18 in Coast Conference play at home. 

Fifteen minutes into the first half, the Rams struggled to win ball possession in the middle field. Foothill College often time advanced the ball to the goal area only to find a very strong defensive line of five Rams players there to prevent any scoring.

Thirty-four minutes into the game the Rams started to demonstrate aggressive play with a combination of short and long passes that almost lead to three goals.

Starting the second half, the Rams’ defensive formation and middle lines were even more solid. In the 63rd minute, Rams goalkeeper Isaac Alvarez (#0) intercepted a Foothill shot-on-goal and immediately sent a cross-pass over to forward Georgi Stoyanov (#7) that resulted in a one-to-one confrontation with Foothill’s goalkeeper and a shot-on-goal for the Rams’ first score and a 1-0 lead. 

The Rams dominated ball possession throughout the second half. In the 72nd minute, forward Oseas Hernandez (#11) threw a free-kick into the goal area assisting forward Sergio Laguna (#10) who reached the ball seconds before the goalkeeper and kicked it into the net to score the second and final goal of the match.

Stoyanov described the teams performance saying, “I feel like we have a really good team, we are all together in this and we support each other.” 

He added: “Every game is important for me, same mentality for every game, we need to keep winning.”

Laguna who scored the second goal of the game said, “it feels amazing to help our team win.” Several substitutions were made during the second half to try new players and strategies, Coach Adam Lucarelli said. “We didn’t play our best, but in the second half we managed the game better. We made substitutions throughout the game, tried some new guys and new positions.”

The Rams prepare to play as visitors against West Valley College on Friday, Oct. 21, at 4 p.m. Their next home games at City College Soccer Stadium are Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. against Hartnell and Friday, Oct. 28 at 1:30 p.m. 

The Rams now stand 10-3 overall to lead the Coast North Division, with a 4-2 record in conference play.