A Downer For Men's Soccer As 2021 Season Concludes

Murphy's law states anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. And that was the case for the Pasadena City College men's soccer team as it had a somewhat sour experience in the ill-conceived South Coast Conference Tournament held Nov. 5 and 9. The Lancers season ended on Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to visiting Compton College as they officially placed 10th out of the 10 teams in the tourney.

On Nov. 5, host PCC used a last-minute goal to earn a 2-2 tie v. Los Angeles Harbor College only to lose a penalty kick session, 5-3, that allowed the winless Seahawks (0-5-5 at the time) to advance to the seventh place final. On Nov. 9, the Lancers then had to shake their heads after losing to another winless-in-conference team in Compton (0-7-3) in a game that was inexplicably ended in the 82nd minute by the referee.

Pasadena was no world beater either in SCC play this, finishing 1-7-3 in conference games and 5-14-3 overall. The Lancers took fifth place in the SCC North Division. 

In the Harbor game, PCC twice rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1. Midfielder Elias Galaviz ripped an 18-yard blast for the team's first goal in the 53rd minute. A Pasadena turnover led to Harbor's Brian Oliver's goal in the 75th minute for a 2-1 Harbor lead. With the game in injury time after the 90th minute, striker Mark Dagher received an airborne pass from Cameron Montano and headed in the tying goal. 

Because tourney rules required penalty kicks (five attempts each) to advance teams in place matches, the teams traded PK goals with Galaviz, midfielder Nathan Cruz and Montano all netting their attempts. Harbor took a 4-3 lead when Oliver Nava beat PCC goalie Paul Jing. Harbor Coach Bill Barlow decided to put Nava in the net for the next Lancers attempt and the Seahawk stopped striker Ronaldo Chavez's attempt. Harbor then clinched the advancement on Edwin Gonzalez's goal for a 5-3 PK finish as the Seahawks players celebrated as if they won the conference title--although they simply were advancing to a seventh place final.

In the ninth place final at Robinson Stadium, Compton grabbed a 2-0 halftime lead, but PCC came back on a header goal by striker Asher Smith off a corner kick by Cruz four minutes into the second half. The Tartars built their lead back to two when Ramiro Reyes dribbled in and scored in the 79th minute. A game that featured eight yellow cards got ugly enough that the referee made the bizarre decision to end the game despite eight minutes left on the clock. And that's how the PCC 2021 season ended.

"When they say things don't bounce your way, they mean it," said PCC head coach Gerry Mora. "Some of our most impactful starters were injured in the latter part of the season, so we didn't have our best lineup for the tournament. But we still didn't play anywhere close to our abilities. It was a tough way to end the year, but our freshmen received valuable experience and we'll continue to recruit to put a stronger team on the field next season."

Sophomore midfielder Martin Manzanilla led the team in scoring with five goals and four assists (14 points), followed by Smith and top freshman Cruz, who each tallied four goals and three assists (11 points a piece). Jing impressed in his frosh season with a 1.94 goals against average, 91 saves, and four shutouts. Mario Urbina, who missed eight games due to injury, finishes his PCC career as the 20th player in program history to reach the 30-point mark (10 goals, 10 assists, led the 2019 team in scoring). The veteran Montano may have been the team's best performer at defender. 

The team's highlight of the season was earning a 0-0 tie against SCC North Division champion Mt. San Antonio on Oct. 15. Manzanilla, Smith, Urbina, Montano, Chavez, midfielder Danny Vargas, defender Edward Morales, and reserve goalie Andrew Espinoza all finished their two-season careers as Lancers.