Citrus College men’s soccer lost their second game of the season, falling 2-0 to the Chaffey College Panthers on Aug. 31 at Chaffey College.
Citrus had three shots on goal, resulting in three saves by the Chaffey College goalie, Alex Fonseca.
From the start of the game the Owls struggled to keep the ball under control.
The Owls went down 1-0 in the fourth minute off a unassisted goal by Chaffey midfielder Sebastian Rivera-Marin.
Rivera-Marin took advantage of a poor pass from the Owl’s, gained possession and kicked it in the back of the net giving the Panthers an early lead.
“Over the past several games we have not started well, we have conceded goals early and it is a concentration matter,” head coach Fred Bruce-Oliver said.
Chaffey put early pressure on Citrus in their own half, preventing them from stringing passes together and keeping the ball under control.
The Owl’s defense was tested again by the myriad of chances created by the Panthers and their attacking offense.
Owls goalie, Christian Arevalo collided with Chaffey forward Henry Salcedo in the 55th minute going for a ball that was crossed into the box.
In the 61st minute, Chaffey was awarded a penalty kick due to a handball inside the 18-yard box.
Chaffey forward Ricardo Collado, stepped up to the penalty spot and rifled the ball in the back of the net during the 61st minute.
Citrus trailed 2-0 with 30 minutes left to play.
Hoping to provide a spark, head coach Bruce-Oliver decided to substitute some of his younger players in.
The Owls played with more urgency when Dominic Luevano got onto the pitch and provided a spark of energy off the bench.
He dribbled down field passing two defenders and had the goalie one-on-one.
Luevano shot a chip shot over the goalie, but the shot just went wide and the Panthers defense cleared the ball.
There was not much time left on the clock when the owls finally started to play more cohesively, but ultimately they ran out of time.
“These are the struggles that go with a group of guys who are so young, we need to build chemistry and figure out each other’s tendencies,” Bruce-Oliver said.
Citrus is facing adversity early in the season with their young core of freshman, but they still have time to get on the right track before their conference games begin.
The Owls play Santa Barbara at 3 p.m. on Sept. 7 at Citrus College.
