Oxnard College defeated Citrus College’s men’s soccer team by 4-0 on Oct. 23.
Citrus played aggressively for the first five minutes, but quickly lost control of the ball to Oxnard.
Gustavo Navarro, Oxnard center, scored the first goal 7 minutes into the match with one goal attempt by Citrus.
Jesse Baca, Citrus middle front, brought Citrus closest to their first goal by heading the ball above the goal post.
“I got nervous and did not connect with the ball,” Baca said. “We knew that Oxnard was the number one team.”
Oxnard wore down Citrus with unique passes and by keeping control of the ball.
“They usually hold the ball a lot, which makes us more tired than them,” Baca said. “When they saw us more tired they counter attacked us.”
Kelly Collins, Citrus front, defensively passed the ball and blocked Oxnard every chance he could.
20 minutes into the first round Navarro once again found the net without any assistance and Oxnard led Citrus 2-0.
After Oxnard’s second goal, both teams increased their pace and started pushing roughly.
The second half started with Oxnard in control of the ball and continued at that tempo.
Oxnard received a foul and Citrus had another chance at the net.
Angel Esparza, Citrus defender, passed the corner kick from far left to Kelly Collins, Citrus front.
Collins’ shot went through the left corner next to the mouth of the goal missing it closely.
One hour and 10 minutes in, Fernando Hernandez Puga, Oxnard center, scored a third goal with an assistance of Navarro leaving Citrus with less a hope.
“It feels amazing to get back on the scoreboard,” Hernandez Puga said. “It was a hard game.”
After that Baca hit a shot to the mouth of the goal, but missed again.
Oxnard was able to use this moment and scored their final goal.
Oxnard received 7 fouls while Citrus received 10 with one yellow card in the second half of the game on Collins.
It was hot day and aggressive game for both Citrus and Oxnard, but Citrus failed to score with only four shots made.
“Citrus put a lot of pressure on us, and when we made the first goals we were able to settle down. They pushed in the second half, but we’re fortunate enough to get a counter attacks,” said Ross Greaney, Oxnard head coach. “I don’t think it is a 4-0 game because Citrus played very well.”
Citrus’ next men’s soccer home game is against Moorpark on Oc
