FCC Men’s Soccer Defeat LA Mission College In Second Half Dominance

Facing an undefeated rival was a tough task for Fresno City College, but they were up for the task and ended up with the victory. The Rams men’s soccer team defeated LA Mission College at home on Sept. 8 in the first game of the season in front of the home crowd.

Coming off a 0-0 game against Cerritos College, FCC was looking for their second win of the season and the first one at home. Facing a tough LA Mission team that was coming into the game undefeated was going to be an uphill battle for the Rams.

The game begun with FCC taking immediate control of the game, keeping the ball away from LA Mission for the first 10 minutes of the game. After the initial surge by FCC it seem as if LA Mission had finally settled into the game and begin to take control.

FCC looked out of place for rest of the first half, having control of the ball for just a few passes to then giving the ball away to LA Mission who would take advantage of the opportunities and try their luck with on goal shots with no fortune.

Only a handful of opportunities to score came to the Rams in the first half and most were from set pieces. By the end of the half both teams seem to be affected by the heat because the pace of the game slowed to a crawled.

LA Mission went into halftime knowing that they were the better team, but with a 0-0 score which made for a very interesting second half.

The Rams came out ready to play on the second half, with just 8 minutes in midfielder Alex Covarrubias got a shot pass the goalie for the first goal of the game thanks to an assist by forward Johnny Rodriguez.

The first score of the game seem to give FCC the confidence to play a lot better and also seemed to take away from LA Mission who were not the same after taking in the first goal.

With more confidence came better handling of the ball, which meant better passes and more control of the game and the game time. LA Mission seem to have been affected greatly by the score, they were not able to make the same plays they did in the first half.

FCC was dominating the half and because of the chances on goal they were creating it was only inevitable that a second score was coming.

The second score of the game came when Rodriguez took a shot on goal and with poor communication between the defender and the goalie they found themselves having to clear the ball from the goal line and onto midfielder Arturo Ceballos feet who took the shot in front of the goal and finally scored.

The second score came in minute 72 of the second half seem to take all the spirit from LA Mission and made it so that FCC could cruise through the rest of the game. It wasn’t until the last 5 minutes of the game that LA Mission begin to take more shots on goal, but by then it was too late.

In the end, FCC won their first home game of the season 2-0 bringing their record to two wins, one loss, and two draws.

“We knew the heat was going to be a factor for them in the second half and defensively we made a couple of adjustments” said coach Eric Solberg about his strategy for the second half of the game. He also said, “Overall I didn’t love the way we played, but at the end of the day we are trying to win and move on.”

The Rams next game at home will be against Canada on Sept. 16.