Glendora, CA (Men’s Soccer) -- Over the last three games the Citrus College Men’s Soccer team has had no problem in getting out to a great start. In the first half of those games, Citrus has either been tied with or led each of its opponents.
It’s when the Fighting Owls got into the second half of contests, when things began to get hairy for Citrus. In that span Citrus had been outscored 5-0 in the second half.
The Fighting Owls finally broke that streak on Friday afternoon, going the distance, as they got their second win of the season with a 2-1 decision over visiting Southwestern College.
In what turned out to be an evenly fought match, it would be the Jaguars who would control the tempo early on in the first half. Despite their control of the tempo, Southwestern struggled to get a shot off, and it was Citrus who would come up big first.
With 15:02 on the clock, the Fighting Owls got their first goal of the game thanks to some great ball movement down the field. With an advantage down on their own half of the pitch, Emmanuel Felix flicked the ball into the box, where Rafael Garcia took the ball and found an open Alex Tuc who buried the ball in the back of the net to give Citrus a 1-0 lead.
Twenty minutes later, Citrus added to their lead when George Tovar was the recipient of a Victor Silva assist. Tovar took the Silva pass and placed it in the far side of the net well passed the Jaguars goalies hands to give Citrus control of the game at 2-0.
Moments later, Southwestern would get on the board when a Citrus failure to clear the ball on a corner kick allowed Armando Valdez to bicycle the ball into the net past the outstretched arms of Trey Mitchell. That would be all that Citrus would allow however, as Mitchell recorded five saves, and the Fighting Owls secured a 2-1 victory.
With the win, Citrus improves to 2-3-1 while Southwestern falls to 3-5-1. With the completion of Friday’s game comes the end of Citrus’ non-conference schedule. The Fighting Owls will begin Western State Conference play next Tuesday when they travel to Oxnard College for a 4:00 PM showdown.
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