Goal after goal

Goal’s are hard to come by in soccer, but Santa Monica College forward Alessandro Canale is arguably one of the best on his team at scoring them. He describes the feeling of scoring as “one of the best feelings that you can feel; there’s nothing like it, there is no drug, or anything else better than scoring goals.” For Canale, he has felt this euphoric feeling twelve times this season so far, highlighted by his four-goal rally against Alan Hancock last Tuesday. His latest goals came in the first half of SMC’s 4-1 victory at home against Glendale College Tuesday afternoon.

His scoring has been pivotal to the team’s success as SMC is currently riding a two game winning streak, and are 6-0-2 for the season. However, Canale has done more then just score goals; his presence as well as his passing have been great .

“He’s good with his back to the goal, we can play through him. He also sets up teammates to give them chances to score,” coach Tim Pierce said.

Canale was one of the later additions to the team, so it was difficult to see what kind of player he was going to be. Pierce said that he’d seen Canale play before and knew that he was a good player.

Other players on the team did not know what to expect from the new freshman. “I didn’t expect him to play the way he is playing now. He is a really good player, and I want to play with him every game,” said forward Eric Fakhourian. “The first thing I noticed about him was that he is living like an athlete. He’s not drinking or smoking, his hard work is going to pay off.”

Canale said his mindset changed two or three years ago when he became motivated playing soccer. “It’s kind of funny, I was into partying a lot, but I didn’t see a future in it. I see a future if you work hard in anything you do, and I’m going to do that for soccer.”

“I’m doing everything I can to keep my body in the right shape.”

His hard work seems to be paying off. Pierce explained that Canale always finishes in the top five in endurance drills during practice.

It has been nearly 20 years since SMC has had a men’s soccer team to root for, and they’re giving fans something to cheer about, remaining undefeated through eight games. “I always thought we could put a great team together,” Canale said. “I think thus far we’ve had a great season. I feel like we’ve done really well, and we can continue to do well.”

Canale’s skills and his work ethic seem to have rubbed off on the team, and it looks like they’ve laid a foundation for a solid team for years to come.