Glendora, CA (Men’s Soccer) -- With 25 minutes left in their Western State Conference contest with Allan Hancock College, the Citrus College Men’s Soccer team looked as if they were on their way to their first conference victory of the season with a 2-0 lead. That’s when the Fighting Owls went Chernobyl and melted down giving up four goals in the final 25 minutes in a 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs.
Things started off just as Citrus would have liked as the Fighting Owls controlled the tempo in the first half, keeping the ball on their side of the pitch for the majority of the first 45 minutes. The offensive control, led to 10 opportunities for the Fighting Owls to score.
In the 25th minute Citrus would strike as Mark Keating sent a pass down the field that landed at the feet of George Tovar. Tovar made an impressive move to the left and found himself with just the goalie to beat. Tovar sent a rocket towards the goal and it bounced off the right post and into the back of the net giving Citrus a 1-0 lead.
The Fighting Owls would keep the good will rolling in the second half, when Devin Conley scored his first goal of the season. After Conley’s goal made the score 2-0 in the 54th minute, momentum began to shift, and the Bulldogs would take control of the ball and not give it back.
Hancock’s first goal came in the 64th minute when Rosario Bras, the WSC’s second leading scorer, beat Albert Torres, cutting the lead in half. A minute and nine seconds later, Hancock tied the game up when Torres got beat again, this time by Channing Stephenson.
With things spiraling out of control for Citrus, Hancock took the lead in the 71st minute when Carlos Aguilera took an Oscar Torres cross and gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. The final coup de gras came in the 88th minute when Bras scored his 13th goal of the season off an Azael Palacios assist.
With the loss, Citrus falls to 2-13-2 overall and 0-10-1 in conference play, while Hancock improves to 5-9-4 overall and 3-5-3 in WSC games. The Fighting Owls will try and bounce back from Tuesday’s disastrous performance on Friday when they play host to Canyons College. Game time is set for 1:00 PM.
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