The Santa Monica College Corsairs won 3-1 against Citrus College on Friday Oct. 23. The Corsairs held the Owls scoreless until a late penalty in the 80th minute ended their shutout bid.
Going into the game, SMC head coach Tim Pierce talked about how he wanted his team to take advantage of the wide areas and get in behind against Citrus College's defense.
“They play a narrow back line, try to get in behind the wide areas and get cross balls in. I think we score a lot of goals off cross balls and stuff,” Pierce said.
The Corsairs had a dominant first half, switching from defense to attack, which led to their two goals. Three minutes into the game, SMC earned a corner kick. They played it short and crossed the ball into the box, where it was cleared by the Owls’ defense. The Corsairs won the ball back, and midfielder Rani Noff sent a long ball over the Citrus back line to midfielder Noah Johannes, who chipped the goalie to give SMC a 1-0 lead.
Johannes said scoring the opening goal boosted the team’s momentum.
“I think for me personally, the momentum shifted before the game. I knew my parents flew all the way from home just to come watch me play. So I knew I had to perform,” Johannes said. “As soon as the whistle blew, I knew I had to make a big move. Then I got a goal, and I think the first goal gave a boost to our momentum.”
The Corsairs continued to control the first half with possession and created the majority of the scoring chances.SMC added its second goal after recording two shots on target. Noff scored a goal after winning the ball back when he tried to pass to a teammate but was blocked. he pass was blocked, leaving Noff one-on-one with the goalie. He finished by shooting between the goalie’s legs, giving SMC a 2-0 lead.
Both teams had opportunities to add to the score before halftime but couldn’t find the back of the net.
In the second half, SMC and Citrus continued to play aggressively despite the Corsairs’ two-goal lead. During the first 22 minutes, both teams had opportunities to score, while defensive fouls led to a yellow card for Citrus.
The Corsairs scored first after creating multiple opportunities. Noff reacted to a rebound from a shot saved by Citrus goalie Steven Clayton and quickly put the ball in the net, giving SMC a 3-0 lead.
Midfielder Leo Blanchet said that despite scoring three goals, the Corsairs had to work hard against Citrus’ formation.
“They were overloading the middle, there were a lot of guys in the middle so we had to run a lot. I don’t know if you guys saw me, but I was running a lot,” he said.
In the 80th minute, the referee awarded a controversial penalty to Citrus. Citrus defender Dominick Padilla converted with a panenka-style shot, chipping the ball down the middle of the net to give the Owls their first goal of the game.
SMC head coach Tim Pierce received a yellow card for arguing the call.
“It’s not a penalty. We had two way worse plays in the first half, it's not a penalty,” Pierce said. “We’re trying to keep a clean sheet too, and he gave life to the game for no reason.”
The game came to an end with a 3-1 Corsairs victory, improving their conference record to 5-0.
“We need to improve our finishing. But we also made the game too transitional at the end. Maybe we could have just got on the ball more and just kind of gone into buildup and pass the ball around a little bit, and kill the game off,” Pierce said.