After a steady first half of defending from Pierce, Mission College slipped through their defenses and scored three goals in the second half, winning them the game.
Head Coach Julio Castillo said he feels the team has difficulty keeping its cool.
“In the second half, after we allowed the first goal, everything started falling apart for us,” Castillo said. “It’s been that type of season where we allowed a goal and all of a sudden, we do not get it out of our system. After the first goal, all of a sudden, here comes the second one, and the third one… It’s like a snowball, the more it rolls, the bigger it gets. And that’s how we feel.”
Pierce started the game with two saves in the first five minutes, with an additional unofficial save coming from Pierce’s Noel Velasquez.
After a series of offsides and fouls, the first half ended with neither team scoring.
Soon after the start of the second half, Goalie Arnoldo Hernandez made three saves within a minute and a half.
Shortly after the three saves, Mission made their way through Pierce’s defense and scored the first goal of the game.
Defender Steven Gonzalez felt this first goal was when the team started to get discouraged.
“I think it’s the first goal when we all put our heads down,” Gonzalez said. “I think we could have done way better in the second half.”
Mission’s second goal came was scored by Midfielder Jeff Jaimes with an assist by Midfielder Jonathan Gallardo.
Three substitutions and two saves by Hernandez later, Mission was able to score their third and final goal of the game with about five minutes left in the game.
Pierce Forward Damian Lopez felt the second half went poorly but feels the team needs to keep moving forward.
“We were trying to keep our head up, but it didn’t work out,” Lopez said. “Things happened. We just got to practice and get back to work.”
Gonzales shares a similar sentiment and feels the best way to come back from this loss is to show up to practice, be disciplined, listen to their coaches, and work as a team.
The game was joined by the Valley United Soccer Club. Members of the club walked out onto the field paired up with a member of each team’s starting lineup.