The Pasadena City College men's soccer team is 2-2-2 after experiencing the thrill of victory, a 4-2 win at Glendale on Sept. 22, and the agony of defeat, a 4-0 loss at state No. 1-rated in power points Cerritos College on Tuesday.
The Lancers have yet to play a home game this season and will finish their road trip as they open South Coast Conference North Division play at Chaffey on Friday, Sept. 29 at 2 p.m.
At Cerritos, the No. 16 Lancers ran into a Falcons team that is not only undefeated at 5-0-3 but has yet to allow a goal to their opponents this season, outscoring them 19-0. Cerritos also exacted some revenge on PCC after the Lancers last year handed the Falcons a 2-0 loss that ended a 14-game, 13-year losing streak for Pasadena in games played at the Norwalk campus.
The four goals allowed was a season worst so far for PCC, but part of the defensive letdown was due to the team having to play last the 60 minutes short-handed with 10 players. Christopher Munoz was charged with two yellow card violations that resulted in his ejection from the contest. A goal by Oscar Canela gave Cerritos a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute. The Falcons scored their final three goals in the second half when they outshot PCC, 10-2 (18-7 overall advantage).
PCC played well in the first half behind the play of Joshua Arevalo, Pablo Buenrostro and Marlon Flores, but fatigue took its toll in the last 45 minutes when Cerritos seized control of things by exposing open spaces on PCC's side of the field due to the 11-on-10 player advantage. Goalie Andrew Espinoza made six saves overall and kept his team in contention for the first 60 minutes.
Against Glendale last Friday under the lights, the Lancers scored a season high in goals, including two penalty kicks by Yader Rodriguez. His first PK in the 13th minute gave PCC a 1-0 lead. The sophomore forward then broke a 1-1 tie with his second score in the 55th minute. Both of Rodriguez's shots were cannon drives into the upper left corner of the net. In the 66th minute, Rodriguez controlled the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and passed it to James Coe, who made a fake and cut deep in the box for a goal that made it 3-1. In the 75th minute, Coe knocked in his second goal with assists from Alexander Hernandez and Bryant Sanchez.
Rodriguez's four goals and 10 points lead the Lancers in scoring after he was the team's top goal scorer last year.