The men’s soccer team defeated Lemoore College’s Golden Eagles 2-0 in an intense game on Friday, as the Hawks prepare for conference play.

Head coach Ron Preble said the Hawks’ main focus for the game was to try out one of their new tactics.

“This week, we ran a new formation we had used a couple times for maybe 10 to 15 minutes in two different matches,” he said. “So we thought we would put a little more work into it and use it against Lemoore.”

Less than 10 minutes into the game, sophomore midfielder, Michael Villasenor, made the first goal from a corner kick.

Villasenor, who scored his third goal of the season, said the team’s communication so far has been good.

“I think we always do a good job at communicating and putting in the effort,” Villasenor said. “It always could be better, but I think we do a pretty good job overall and that’s how we always get these results.”

Early into the second half, the Hawks scored the final goal through sophomore defender, Ezekiel Cruz from a direct free-kick after a foul from Lemoore.

Coming off a win, Cruz said he is happy about what that means for next week.

“This win is good for us because we are going into conference next week,” Cruz said.

Cruz said that the first half of the game ,playing with the new formation, was a little touch and go.

“I would say our formation in the first half didn’t go as planned and they gave a lot of pressure, they gave the ball away a lot,” he said.

Of the attempted six shots, the Hawks made two goals. Preble said that there were many opportunities where a goal could have been made.

“On the field, we found a couple of moments where we were able to find some goals. Probably should’ve scored a couple more, probably should’ve created a few more chances ,” Preble said.

He said the overall attitude and attacking style was a real positive of the game.

Villasenor said that even though winning was one of the main highlights of the game, there are some highlights many forget to mention.

“The moments that aren’t always highlighted as much are the important challenges that we need, the key passes that are made to create these chances to score,” Villasenor said.

For their first conference game, both Villasenor and Cruz said they would be focusing on practicing the new formation.

“I think we are just going to continue working on our formation,” Villasenor said. “Once we are comfortable with it, then we will have an alternative formation to use along with the one we usually play.”

Cruz said the team needs to focus on their footwork more.

“We still need to work on moving the ball a little bit faster. I think today was a little slow,” Cruz said. “Once we get our combinations right, I think no one can stop us.”

Upon starting conference next week, Preble said he is excited for what’s to come.

“We’re really happy with the group, we like what we’re seeing in them, we like the growth that they’ve had from the beginning until now,” Preble said. “We’re just now entering into what I call ‘the warrior phase’ of our season where you go into a conference and you’ve got to be a warrior.”

With a record of five wins, two losses and one draw, the Hawks start conference play on Friday at 4 p.m. at home against San Joaquin Delta College.