Men’s soccer defeated the Modesto Junior College Pirates 3-1 on Tuesday at home with a pair of last minute goals.
This serves as another home win for the Hawks, who now have a home record of seven wins and one loss.
The Hawks overcame a low-energy first half and took a step in the right direction after previously drawing 0-0 against American River College.
Head coach Ron Preble said he was satisfied with the team’s win but also acknowledged the lack of energy early in the match. He said he credits Modesto for providing a challenge to the Hawks.
“I thought that they were more dangerous than we were in the first half, we were kind of doing the wrong things in the wrong areas with wrong ideas,” Preble said. “I think that they came to play and did a great job changing how the guys were playing before.”
Preble said his hope for the future of the team is to have better communication that isn’t only verbal.
“I think we also need to work on mental communication,” Preble said. “Playing with the same ideas energy wise, it’s like a whole other level of playing well.”
Picking up momentum in the second half, it was at the 58-minute mark when freshman forward Sean Miller scored the first goal of the game with an assist from sophomore forward Christian Garduno.
“My goal was to try and help the team out, so when the opportunity popped up I knew I had to get back into it and hit it clean,” Miller said.
In the 89th minute, freshman defender Meyoune Bayless followed up with an unassisted goal which pushed the Hawks further ahead. Just a minute later, freshman forward Isaac Chacing scored a last minute goal with an assist from freshman midfielder Benjamin Siler, giving the Hawks a three goal lead.
Chacing said that it was important for him to keep his head in the game as it led to his goal.
“I definitely feel like I picked up my tempo a little bit,” Chacing said. “I’ve been trying to find a chance to get a goal, and eventually saw the keeper out of his box and I took over.”
The Hawks followed up their win with a 2-1 defeat away to Santa Rosa Junior College and closed out conference play for the season.