The sixth-seeded Santa Rosa Junior College men’s soccer team’s playoff journey ended on a controversial call resulting in a 1-0 loss to 14th seeded Cosumnes River College on Nov. 23 at Sunrise Park in Rohnert Park.
The Hawks’ lone score came from a penalty kick by forward Iven Flores Jimenez, which was an uncontested 12-yard shot that went into the bottom right corner of the goal.
“It’s kind of a heartbreaker when your season ends on a questionable call,” head coach Marty Kinahan said, disagreeing with the referee’s call. “I always feel like the game should be decided by the players on the field within play. I don’t feel like the referee should ever decide the game.”
But Kinahan was not using the refs as an excuse. “We still had a lot of time to get back in the game,” he said.
Overall, Kinahan was pleased with his team’s performance, despite being knocked out of the playoffs in the second round of the CCCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
“The guys played hard, they did everything we asked them to do from a defensive standpoint,” Kinahan said.
He thought his players were in the game for all 90 minutes. “They didn’t start fouling, they didn’t play negatively. They played as a team. They fought hard,” he said. “They represent the school well, represent themselves well. They did everything we asked.”
Kinahan’s squad was lucky to get a playoff game at home in the second round, after 14th seeded Cosumnes River College upset the third seeded Folsom Lake in the first round.
“I thought we were a better team, and I thought we deserved to move on,” the coach added.
Reflecting on the season, Kinahan spoke about the team’s talents, which forced them to try different systems, move many players to different positions and allow his players to step up.
The season was “a bit of a roller coaster,” according to Kinahan, after a season-opener scrimmage against San Francisco State and then a road game against last year’s state champs, Fresno City College.
Kinahan said he created a difficult schedule, so his team can gain valuable experience against high talent, even playing Fullerton College, “a really strong team from [Los Angeles],” Kinahan said. “They don’t back down all year, regardless of who we played.”
The Bear Cubs “had a couple times where we played down to the other team’s level and that hurt us,” Kinahan said.
The Bear Cubs played their best soccer in the final month and a half of the season, not losing until their final loss in the playoffs. “That’s a pretty good way to finish the year, seven wins, one loss, three ties,” Kinahan said.
“I think we have the best goalie in the state,” he said of freshman Emanuel Padilla.
“We have a fantastic young team with a good defense. We had some guys not playing that suddenly were playing, and we let a couple games get away, but we finished exceptionally strong,” Kinahan said.
He hopes to retain the freshmen. “We’ve got really strong freshmen, and we’ve got good midfielders, good forwards, good defenders, fantastic goalie,” he said.
Kinahan will enjoy the offseason for now, but he’s looking forward to the 2022 season.
“I’m excited for next year,” he said. “Tryouts are August 1.”
