Chaffey Shuts-out Corsairs 2-0 at Home
Chaffey Shuts-out Corsairs 2-0 at Home
Serendipity strikes in ways you least expect, and sometimes in ways you truly hate.
Such was the case for today’s men’s soccer game against the Chaffey Panthers. With SMC fighting as hard as they possibly could, Chaffey closed out the game 2-0.
While ruthlessly defending their goal, a hard foul pit Panther Josue Bustos (F) against Corsair Goalkeeper Paul Makhtin for a penalty kick. Bustos’ shot managed to elude Makhtin’s grasp to bring the Panthers to a 1-0 lead with just four minutes until halftime.
“It was a good shot, and I couldn’t really do anything,” Makhtin said. “I was so confident I could have got it. I [wish] I would have cheated a little bit more to stop that."
After the halftime pause, the Corsairs came back determined to find a tying goal. SMC defended away every free kick and corner the Panthers dished out to them.
Midway through the second half, a golden opportunity opened up for the Corsairs as an all-out attack on Chaffey’s goal yielded an open net and midfielder Christian Cruz-Herrera fired off his shot, only to have it deflect off of the post and back into Chaffey’s possession.
As the clock started to approach 90 minutes, the Corsairs gave all they had on the offensive end, only to have their well-placed corners defended away by Chaffey. With 86 minutes on the clock, Chaffey launched an attack on SMC’s goal, and while the Corsairs defended with all they had, a deflection that no one could save in time saw the ball leisurely rolling into SMC’s goal, putting Chaffey up 2-0 and nailing the coffin shut on this game.
“The game can be cruel sometimes,” Coach Tim Pierce said. “It was a game of missed chances; I don’t think we were playing poorly, we had an onslaught of chances like an open goal and point blank shots. We had plenty of shots to tie it at 1-1 and maybe take some momentum away. We lose [because] of a cheesy goal and a penalty kick,” Pierce said
While Chaffey won this game in a decisive victory, none of their goals came from pure, raw soccer. A penalty kick and a some help from Lady Luck proved to be the deciding factor in this game, despite the Corsairs playing the brand of soccer they want and need to play.
Men’s Soccer takes on Antelope Valley at home next Tuesday, September 13th at 3:00pm.