ELAC men’s soccer team hits a season low point

TORRANCE, CA — The Huskies men’s soccer team lost two straight games, a 2-1 upset loss at El Camino College today and a shocking 3-1 loss to Cerritos College on Tuesday.

After opening the season with only one setback in 13 games at 7-1-5 overall, ELAC’s mistakes were prevalent in its last two South Coast Conference crossover games resulting in 10 cards, four of them red for the bewildered Huskies.

With the two losses, East Los Angeles College lost its No. 13 ranking and dropped out of the statewide poll and is 7-3-5 overall. El Camino improves to 6-7-3 and is now ranked No. 22.

Cerritos, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation (JC Division III non-scholarship schools Poll by the United Soccer Coaches), remains No. 1 in the state and is 11-0-3.

At El Camino, the Huskies had a number of high-level scoring chances but did not capitalize. El Camino however, did.

El Camino pounded a blast in the 25th minute to lead 1-0, a goal from Jason Santana (assist Zachary Franco and Abraham Younis).

The Warriors added a quick shot from Yushi Kato, which was an unassisted intercepted pass from the ELAC goalkeeper.

The Huskies scored at the 82:36 mark from a freshman midfielder Jerson Maravilla (Fremont HS) freekick from the top of box to the lower right corner.

ELAC outshot El Camino 19-8 in a game marred by eight second-half yellow cards, four by each team. ELAC freshman forward Salvador Alvarez (Locke High School) received his second yellow at the 80:43 mark, resulting in a red card.

Maravilla took seven of the 19 shots and three of ELAC’s five shots on goals. Sophomore forward Valentin Mercado (Animo Ralph Bunche HS) took four shots for ELAC.

Against Cerritos, the Huskies had four real opportunities in the first 14 minutes but did not put it through. Cerritos took opportunities to close the Huskies zone.

Cerritos scored its first goal, unearned, in the 19th minute from Luis Garcia (assist Adrian Becerra).

Cerritos scored on a questionable play by Christian Perez (assist Adrian Becerra) in the 33rd minute and led 2-0.

In the second half ELAC opened with three shots and a shot on goal, which was cleared before Cerritos got a shot off. The Huskies couldn’t put away real opportunities with the Falcon counters.

ELAC drew two red cards. Down two men, the Huskies fouled Garcia in the box who then connected on a penalty kick and Cerritos led 3-0 in the 84th minute.

Sophomore defender Augustin Barros (Santiago, Chile / St. George College) stole a midfield pass, which led to an ELAC goal from Maravilla who scored unassisted for the Huskies in the 87th minute.

“The game is what it is. At the end of the day I thought the first two goals they got were not earned,” said ELAC Head Coach Eddie Flores. “We lost our composure because of the red cards.”

Two Huskies received red cards for challenging the referees. “I cannot justify players going after the referees. You walk away,” said Flores. “There’s no need for insubordination.”

Sophomore midfielder Edward Robles (Wallis Annenberg HS) will sit out of the next game as will freshman midfielder Edwin Vasquez (Jefferson HS).

Sophomore midfielder Jorge Mejia (Orthopaedic Medical Magnet HS) is out for the season because he got his second red card, the first in the opening game of the season in a 5-1 win at Southwestern College (7-5-5).

“We need to put everything behind us, keep put heads up and keep going with determination, said,” ELAC midfielder Alexander Silva (Roosevelt HS). “We just need to focus because we’re smart enough to fix our mistakes and not make them again in order to win a championship.”

ELAC plays at No. 10 Long Beach City College (9-3-2) on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. The Huskies have six games remaining in the regular season and cannot afford a loss if they expect to earn a playoff bid. Bids are based on Power Rankings.

“We chose our battles, made it personal and now we just need to move on and prove it on the field,” said ELAC Assistant Head Coach Ricardo Raygoza. “Then no doubt we’re going to the playoffs.”

Follow ELAC Athletics at http://athletics.elac.edu/landing/index and ELAC Huskies Athletics on Facebook.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia