The Santa Rosa Junior College men’s soccer team beat Cañada College 2-1 at home in the second round of regional playoffs on Nov. 21.
It was a very competitive match with multiple scoring opportunities, fouls and instances of players challenging each other for the ball. Both teams gave it their all, but the Bear Cubs triumphed and will be heading to the Norcal Regional Finals.
The Bear Cubs had the opportunity to score the first goal in the 16th minute when SRJC midfielder Alex Climaco had a powerful shot that went wide of the goal. The Cañada Colts created chances to put the ball behind the net, but couldn’t achieve their objective due to the solid SRJC defense.
Cañada defender Juan Bedolla received a yellow card in the 33rd minute for a foul.
SRJC forward Victor Vargas scored the opening goal from a low shot outside the box, in the final minutes before half time.
Colts defender Francesco Giusti received another yellow card for a foul on SRJC midfielder Sam Nolan right before the referee blew the whistle for half time.
The Bear Cubs showed more aggression in the second half and began to counterattack every time they took the ball from the Colts on their field.
Colts Forward Daniel Schembri got booked for a foul in the 61st minute.
SRJC doubled their lead when midfielder Angel Arriaga scored a header from a corner kick in the 66th minute.
SRJC committed a foul inside the penalty box in the last minute, making it a penalty kick for Cañada.
Kiichi Murakami scored from the penalty spot, as SRJC goalkeeper Abel Calvillo dove toward the ball yet still missed the chance to keep it from reaching the net, setting the final score at 2-1.
“In the first half we were a little bit more organized defensively. In the second half we created some opportunities because our guys were a little closer toward one another; we had another striker up top, then we switched again,” Garcia said.
