The Santa Rosa Junior College Men’s Soccer team beat American River College 3-0 at home on Oct. 1 despite a delay in the game due to hot weather.
“It was a pretty good conference opener,” he said. “American River is always a good [competition], I thought the boys played well. First half was good, second half was a little slow, a little boring. Guys lost a little energy cause of the heat, we played in 103 [degrees] which is pretty hot, but overall good, we executed some plays so I was happy.”
The Bear Cubs were looking to bounce back after two consecutive losses away against City College of San Francisco and Cabrillo College.
The Beavers came into the game winning their last contest at Contra Costa College and losing at home to City College of San Francisco.
“I think we just came out ready. Last week, we had to travel, not saying that as an excuse, but we weren’t as focused as we were today and we knew that before last game. We lost another game, so we knew we couldn’t lose three in a row, so we came out ready, and we got the job done,” said SRJC midfielder Kleber Maldonado.
SRJC came out strong on the offensive as forward Jasveer Dadlani Garcias quickly got a shot off outside the box, which was saved by the American River goalie.
Maintaining the momentum, Bear Cubs midfielder Edgar Nunes scored a fantastic trivela goal on an assist from defender Adrian Valencia. Nunes stopped the ball and shot from the outside of his foot and curled it in the back of the net to make it 1-0 in the 20th minute.
“I think scoring pretty early and then playing better defense centrally with our midfielders was the key for us,” said head coach Marty Kinahan.
The Bear Cubs doubled their lead seven minutes later as defender Joseangel Carillo-Contreras headed the ball into the middle of the penalty area to assist Xavius Landford who struck it in. SRJC nearly scored again when midfielder Dominic Sanchez missed a header just over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, the Beavers looked to battle back as forward Donovan Rodriguez made an amazing run all the way from half field and got inside the penalty box but missed wide.
In the 50th minute, Bear Cubs midfielder Jaxon Cho shot from the bottom left that would’ve been a third SRJC goal if not for a fantastic save by Beavers goalkeeper James Tibbets.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Maldonado sealed the win with a dramatic final goal to put SRJC up 3-0. After going to the ground with the ball and two defenders failing to recover it, Maldonado got back up, turned, and fired a low shot past the keeper.
“I slipped but I knew I could still get up and finish the ball, so that’s what I did, and I got the goal,” Maldonado said. “I’m thankful to my teammates.”
The Bear Cubs look to pick up another win on the road this Friday at 11:30 a.m. against San Joaquin Delta College.
