Men’s soccer team lose tough home game
EC midfielder Jean-Pierre Dejean-Macksa fights off Rio Hondo defender on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at El Camino College. Photo credit: Darwyn Samayoa
The Warriors suffered their fourth defeat of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 16, in a 1-0 loss to the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners.
In the first half, the momentum swayed back and forth between the two teams. The Warriors played a convincing offense however, getting plenty of time near their opponents goalpost but not quite finishing the job.
Tensions began to mount after the Warriors midfielder, Jean-Pierre Dejean Macksa, was involved in numerous fouls and soon received a yellow card less than half an hour into the game.
The Rio Hondo College coaches were quick to call out to the referees to take action against Macksa but the referees resumed the game each time.
At halftime call, both teams remained at zero.
A spectator for the game, Roglio Zacatenco, physical education major, said at during the half, “The fouls don’t really matter, it’s all about the way they’re controlling the middle.”
The second half of the game began just as close as the first half as both teams struggled to get past each others defense.
It was at the 58th minute that a Roadrunners midfielder, Andres Salazar scored a goal on the Warriors with the assist from his teammate Jonathan Ortiz.
Macksa was again involved in numerous fouls during the second half that resulted in increased calls from Rio Hondo to have Macksa removed.
Macksa was eventually pulled out of the game at the 59th minute.
The game continued on with the Roadrunners playing to maintain their lead and the Warriors taking more shots at the goalpost.
When time ran out and the game was done the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners claimed victory over the EC Warriors, 1-0.
Warriors midfielder, Stanely Torres, said that the team “did well” but “couldn’t finish their plays.”
No one watching the game could argue that either team played anything but well as the game remained competitive throughout.
“It was a hard game against a very good team” said Michael Jacobson, head coach of the Warriors.
Jacobson said that Rio Hondo College has an established soccer program and that EC is trying to cultivate a similar program.
When asked about Macksa’s removal, Jacobson said, “He was close to getting a second yellow card; meaning the next card means you’re out. I pulled Macksa out of the game so we wouldn’t wind up down a player.”
The Warriors season record is now (5-4-4) and their next game will be at Mt. San Antonio College on Friday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m.
Updated to show game score on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m.
![Players from the El Camino College men's soccer team surround and cheer on Melvyn Perez-Cortez, No. 13, after he scored a goal against Orange Coast College in the 48th minute of the match at Murdock Stadium on Tuesday, Nov. 26. “At halftime we had a speech with the coach and he said to ‘come out strong’ and that’s what we did and it benefited us a lot and [the game] went in our favor,” Perez-Cortez said. Rosemary Montalvo/The Union](https://eccunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ND5_9869-475x317.jpg)
