Following the loss of several key players to begin the season and its current record of 1-1-2, the men’s soccer team may have to drop its expectations to some extent this coming year.
The Warriors will be playing their final preseason road game against Chaffey today at 4 p.m.
“We will have a tough one with Chaffey,” coach John Britton said. “We are looking for some all-round improvement from our team.”
“We have to show some improvement for the next game if we’re going to do anything this season,” he said.
Key players hurt
Having lost several key players who were a big part of the lineup during the preseason. now the team is trying to recover and to move forward.
“At the start of the season, we had high hopes for a very successful year, but we’ve already lost three top forwards due to injury,” Britton said. “We are struggling when it comes to scoring.”
The Warriors will need to rely heavily on their defense and goalkeeper if they intend to stay competitive.
“We’re struggling at this point,” Britton said. “We are looking for a solution.”
The Warriors were initially expecting a greater number of returning players from last yerar’s squad, but instead, the team will go with a rather younthful and inexperienced team.
“We have many freshmen but not many returning players,” sophomore Saul Gonzalez, said. “We’re just going to work with the young guys and try to teach them what it takes to win because this is a step higher than high school.”
Last year, the team ranked 13th with its overall record of 10-5-4, but was eliminated from the playoffs by less than a 1 percent margin.
If the team had won or tied one more game, it could have gone to the playoffs.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t make it to the playoffs last year, but we had a great year,” assistant coach Eddie Barragan said.
The Warriors’ most recent game took place last Tuesday against Moorpark in which the team was defeated 3-1.
The Warriors suffered from mental errors, like not focusing on the game or not doing their jobs due to miscommunication among players.
“We should have won the last game,” Britton said. “We gave up a silly goal.”
Scoring is a concern
Trying to balance the game by attacking with numbers in the second half, EC successfully pulled some out of Moorpark’s defense but could not score.
“Moorpark scored goals, but we didn’t; that’s the difference,” Britton said.
In the previous preseason game against Fullerton on Sept. 3, EC had a difficult time, but managed to tie the game 1-1.
“The referees were against us,” Gonzalez said. “We lost a player to red card, and they didn’t count a goal we scored because they said it was a foul.”
Sophomore Sebastian LaBourde, a key forward, got injured in the game when a defender came in and broke his right shin while avoiding some other defender’s sliding.
He won’t be able to come back this season but will be back next season.
Weather not a problem
The Warriors’ first victory came on Sept. 1 against the San Bernardino Valley Wolverines, 5-1. Even the 105-degree heat didn’t deter the team’s performance.
“We started off pretty strong and came up with a five to one victory,” Gonzalez said.
The Warriors must put all the injuries behind them and get ready for start of the conference games which are set to begin next week.
“We still hope to be competitive and to find a playoff spot,” Britton said. “In the next few weeks, we’re going to realize these hopes.”
Team looks ahead
Coming up for the team arae three more non-conference meetings before the opener at home against Pasadena City College Oct. 1
After Chaffey, the team meets Long Beach City there next Friday and following the Vikings’ contest, the men will travel to East L.A. for a game Tuesday, Sept. 28.
The conference oppoentns include Pasadena, Cerritos, Compton, Long Beach, East L.A., L.A. Harbor College and Mt. San Antonio.
If the team gets past the conference and goes on to the playoffs, the regionals run from Nov. 16 to 23 and the state championship games will be Dec. 4 and 5.
