The men’s soccer team narrowly defeated the Butte College Roadrunners 1- 0 on Tuesday, in the Hawks’ first home game of the season.
Despite the 1-0 scoreline, the Hawks had a dominant display outshooting the Roadrunners 11-4 with three of those shots coming within the first 10 minutes of the game.
“There were times where we controlled the tempo and the pace of the game and they were at the mercy of what we were doing,” said head coach Ron Preble. “We got off to a great start and probably should’ve had a couple goals but we didn’t finish our opportunities.”
The game-winning goal would come in the 13th minute from sophomore offensive midfielder Michael Villasenor who took advantage of a Butte goalkeeping error.
“We’ve been working on pressing recently, so I went off script and saw an opportunity to press the goalkeeper and catch him wrong footed,” Villasenor said. “Then I just had to place my shot.”
Of the 11 shots the Hawks attempted, two were shots on goal with another shot hitting the crossbar. Preble said his team was easily good for three or four goals but only scored one.
The Hawks have not conceded a goal in the two games played this season, with their previous game ending 0-0 at Hartnell College.
“Me and the other goalkeeper take shut-outs very seriously and when we get those results where the other team doesn’t score, it’s partly on us but it’s on the backline as well,” said freshman goalkeeper Sergio Duarte. “It’s all a group effort.”
“Our attackers are our first defenders and our defenders are our first attackers,” said Duarte.
Both Duarte and Villasenor said there are many things the team can iron out during practices.
Jaden Campos, a freshman right-back, said the team is still getting to know each other since half of the team is new.
“Our chemistry has been improving everyday and I feel like that can take us very far in the season,” said Campos.
The Hawks’ next game is on Aug. 29 at Evergreen Valley College.
To prepare for the game, Preble said he planned training sessions at the Cosumnes River College stadium to help the players get accustomed to playing on that surface.