In their fifth game of the season the SRJC Bear Cubs faced off against their tough NorCal rivals from San Francisco City College and suffered a 1-nil loss. Their record falls to 1-2 overall.

The game started out with both teams playing tentatively. The first 15 minutes both teams were feeling eachother out trying to figure out a game plan.

The Bear Cubs played the entire game in a 4-4-2 formation and both teams were allowed unlimited substitutions.

After the teams were done getting a feel for one another, the Rams increased their tempo. The Bear Cubs were stuck playing on the Rams side of the pitch and weren’t looking particularly sharp when they had control of the ball.

In the 34th minute the Rams were able to score the only goal of the game when the Bear Cubs’ goalie, Michael Marianella, was caught out of position. Once the Rams scored, the Bear Cubs looked determined to fight their way back into the game.

Towards the end of the first-half the Bear Cubs were granted two corner kicks, but missed the opportunity to score. Going into half time the feeling was that the Bear Cubs would come out swinging in the second-half. By the time the second-half began, the Bear Cubs’ defense was looking sharp.

Defenders Louis Chambrone, Manuel Leon, and Christian Reyes played hard trying to gain control of the game. The defense was not allowing the Rams’ attack to gain any momentum.

The Bear Cubs were able to receive two more corner kicks in the second-half, but were unable to make anything of them. Throughout the game, midfielders Simon Wheatley and Ricky Garcia were really pushing the pace for the Bear Cubs’ attack.

In the 68th minute, though, Garcia received a hard slide tackle and the Bear Cubs were granted an injury timeout. Garcia would later return to the game.

In the 81st minute the Rams were driving down the pitch and had an opportunity to score, but Marianella ran out to gain possession of the ball and took out the Rams’ player.

Marianella received a red card for his illegal tackle. After the referee handed out the red card both benches were standing and yelling. Midfielder Vicente Sosa received a red card for yelling at the referee too much about the earlier red card given to the Marianella.

The Bear Cubs next home game is on Sept. 23 against Napa.