Following a 3-0 Loss to the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes on Friday Oct. 5, the Jacks men’s soccer team could not break even against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos where they fell short 2-1 on Oct. 7 at College Creek Field.
Friday’s results against the Coyotes was not what the Jacks had in mind. The Coyotes struck first from a cross by senior defender, Cesar Figueroa, finished by Coyotes senior mid fielder, Danny Ortiz, at the 16:01 mark.
At the 55:28 mark another goal was scored by a cross made by Ortiz, finished by redshirt freshman mid fielder Jeronimo Valdapena. Coyote’s sophomore forward, Peter Arellano, sealed the deal with a third goal at the 69:07 mark.
By the end of the match, the Jacks were out crossed by the Coyotes 8-2, which heavily contributed to the Jacks 0-3 loss on Friday.
Friday’s game did not seem to affect the Jacks. The Jacks huddled together, and gave their pre-game chant to let the heavily favored Cal Poly Pomona Broncos know they were here to play.
The Broncos were quick with their passes to start. Shuttling the ball side to side, the Jacks were in full defensive mode for the first 10 minutes of the game.
At the 15:50 mark, Jack’s junior defender Gus Baxter broke through the Bronco’s defense from a wild through ball that was met with a head to head collision with Broncos senior keeper Jakob Hansen, which resulted in a goal from Baxter. After the goal both players stayed on the pitch and went through concussion protocol and were forced from the game.
The Jack’s defense continued to pester the Broncos corner attack. The Broncos were in a major advantage in the corner game, having a total of seven, compared to zero from the Jack’s in the first half.
This came back to hurt the Jacks at the 41:53 mark after a cross from Bronco’s sophomore mid fielder Omar Green, was netted in by Bronco’s freshman forward, Gabriel Castillo, evening the score just before the end of the first half.
The beginning of the second half was more of a chess match than a soccer game. Both teams seemed to be trying to figure out a way to break the net.
Jacks senior keeper Bryan Hernandez was more of a wall then a man with gloves. Hernandez managed to have eight saves in the first half, and continued to make saves, keeping the Jacks hopes alive.
In the second half, the Jacks attack was seen more in the boxscore, than the first half.
With about five minutes to go, Jacks sophomore mid fielder Ethan Waters, almost capitalized on a wide open break to put the Jacks up, yet fell short. Two minutes later Broncos junior defender Jason Ramos nailed a shot in the top middle part of the goal, giving the Bronco’s a 2-1 lead with about three minutes remaining.
The Jacks had one last good shot to even the score from sophomore mid fielder, Ethan Waters, which was held questionable by Jack fans and team mates. What looked to be like a shot that was touched last by Bronco’s senior keeper, Skyler Gibbons-Stovall, was called a goal kick and brought the Jacks to a 2-1 loss.
Jack’s junior forward, Isaiah Dairo following the loss had a few words.
“We came out with a game plan wanting them to play down the line,” Dairo said. “As a team I believe we moved the ball well player to player but at the end just fell short.”
Dairo had two shots, with one on target, yet what hurt the Jacks on Sunday was the amount of shots the Bronco’s took. Compared to the Jacks 13 total shots, the Bronco’s had 27 shots.
Jacks senior keeper Bryan Hernandez did what he could and finished the game with a total of 18 saves. According to Hernandez, Sunday’s game was not just a loss, but showed that this Jacks team is tight and can play against the top teams.
“We did lose, but we proved we can play as good as any other top team in this conference, if not better,” Hernandez said.
The Jack will head to Turlock California for their next game, where they will take on the Stanislaus State Warriors Friday Oct. 12.
