By Kevin Castaneda

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME
By Kevin Castaneda
2-1 was not a loss, but more of a maturing process for the Riverside Community College men’s soccer team in its recent match up versus San Bernardino Valley College.
Plays were not defined on either side of the field. But coach Francisco Melgarejo sees this as a learning experience, for a team with about 90 percent of the players being freshmen.
“We are going to have an up and down season, but we are looking forward to the challenges that await us.” coach Melgarejo said.
These same sentiments can be explained by forward Tony Magaña, he said,” Our defense needs to work harder; its something we are going to need to practice a lot on.” he said.
Ten minutes into the first half, RCC was awarded with a penalty kick. But RCC failed to complete the play with a shot off the side bar. Almost exactly 10 minutes later, a penalty kick was charged against RCC. As fast as the kick was executed, was as fast as the goalie, Pablo Isais, deflected the ball.
Then at the 35th minute of the game, SBVC drew the first blood. The view of the ball was blocked from Isais until the last possible second. SBVC players decided they wanted to capitalize their first goal, with a second one just five minutes later.
The first half demonstrated that RCC had the ability to get to the goal, but couldn’t connect with the net. The story didn’t change much in the second half. But the Tigers did step up their defense to keep SBVC from scoring the whole second half. Once the defense stepped it up and came together, the offense was soon to follow. In the 37th minute of the second half the Tigers were awarded with a penalty kick. This time they would take advantage and score their first goal of the game.
The game was a true testament to Melgarejo’s words about an up and down season. The team fell behind, but was able to make a decent comeback.
Showing that there is a lot of talent that needs to mature to show their true skills.