The Santa Rosa Junior College mens soccer team showed out in a big way in its season opener, winning 5-1 against Chabot College on Aug. 29.
Santa Rosa’s team started off hot, completely overwhelming the Gladiators and scoring two goals within the first 20 minutes of the game. Midfielders Alex Climaco and Sam Nolan scored the goals, and while they were the only points scored in the first 45 minutes, the remainder of the first half showcased the Bear Cubs’ ability to work under pressure and maintain their lead.
Meanwhile, the opposite could be said for Chabot, which in the first half was only able to generate a single shot on target, and that still took them 45 minutes. The Gladiators struggled to make it into the Bear Cubs’ half of the field, where they met swift defensive coverage from Santa Rosa defenders Guillermo Gonzalez and Darren O’Leary.
After the brief break at halftime, the two teams had a balanced start to the second half, with Chabot finally able to make successful attacking runs that penetrated the backline of Santa Rosa’s defense. But the Bear Cubs still struck first, with an outrageous strike coming from Sam Nolan outside the box to put his team up 3-0 in the 57th minute and add to his goal tally, making it two for the day.
Chabot responded quickly though, with opposing midfielder Gabriel Rivera able to sneak and tap in a goal amidst some defensive confusion in the Santa Rosa box moments later in the 58th minute.
At this point, Chabot looked to be at their best, putting more pressure on Santa Rosa, though midfielders Sergio Valenzuela and Sam Nolan stepped up big, covering the midfield box-to-box, dropping back to help their defense relieve some pressure and make some charging runs upfield to set up their teammates.
The Bear Cubs focused on holding their lead rather than extending it, until the 76th minute, when Sam Nolan struck again, playing a great through-ball to fellow midfielder Angel Arriaga who scored and made the game 4-1.
By the time the last five minutes of play arrived, Chabot looked to be attempting to avoid further embarrassment until the 87th minute, when defender Evan Uong slipped through Chabot’s back line, putting up a shot that was saved right into the path of SRJC forward Jaxon Cho, making the score 5-1. The game was called just moments later.
The Oak Leaf Man-of-the-Match was, of course, SRJC midfielder Sam Nolan, who notched two goals and one assist, as well as dominating in every aspect of midfield. “I think we had a good lineup today, I thought the team played really well,” Nolan said. “And that allowed me to have the freedom to push forward. We defended and attacked really well as a team.”
Asked how he maintained his composure so well, Nolan replied, “I just played with confidence today. I was really enjoying myself and putting faith in the team, and when you have that confidence in yourself to attack more and have a good team around you, then you can really play with freedom.”
Assistant coach Daniel Garcia talked about his team’s performance following the win, attributing much of the team’s composure to the players’ training regiment. “We put some pressure on them during training, so that during the big games it doesn’t really affect them as much,” he said. “It’s all planned gameday preparation that we do during training, as well as our rotation of players to avoid any of them getting too tired.”
The Bear Cubs look to continue their hot streak at home against the City College of San Francisco Rams on Friday, Sept. 1.
