The Pasadena City College men's soccer team earned a 1-1 tie at Chaffey College in its South Coast Conference North Division opener Friday afternoon. Freshman reserve midfielder Romio Sislian scored a minute into the second half that erased Chaffey's 1-0 halftime lead.
The Lancers are 2-2-3 overall while the Panthers gained a bit of a moral victory in the tie. PCC beat Chaffey all three times they met last season, including a first round playoff, overtime win. The two teams are part of a powerful group of South Coast teams that make up a majority of the top 12 in the SoCal power points rankings.
PCC is No. 8 and Chaffey No. 13. Cerritos is No. 1, followed by No. 2 Mt. San Antonio, No. 3 Long Beach City, No. 5 Compton, No. 6 Rio Hondo, and No. 9 El Camino, and No. 10 East Los Angeles. An amazing eight of the top 10 region teams are from the SCC.
Against Chaffey, Sislian scored on a volley shot inside the box. Sislian, the 2017 Glendale News Press Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year from Glendale's Hoover High, received a deflection from Marlon Flores and scored his first collegiate goal.
Sophomore center midfielder Joshua Arevalo, Pablo Buenrostro (playing off the bench), and Flores were key players for the Lancers, according to assistant coach Gerry Mora.
On Tuesday, Oct. 3, the Lancers host a very tough East Los Angeles team in a 2 p.m. conference start at Robinson Stadium.