CCC men’s soccer: Crush give up late goal, tie Falcons

The Crush men’s soccer team is now 3-5-4 on the season after tying Folsom Lake at home on Wednesday, Oct. 10. (Photo courtesy of Jason Mendez/CCC)

Despite putting together one of its strongest performance of the season, the Clovis Community College men’s soccer team settled for 1-1 result at home against Folsom Lake on Wednesday, Oct. 10.

The Folsom Lake Falcons, coming in with a record of 7-1-1, attacked early and often. The Crush, however, held its ground against the Falcons’ fast-paced counter attack.

“The backline is coming together really well. They’re an experienced group, they’re working hard, they’re communicating, they’re covering for each other,” CCC head coach Chad McCarty said.

Crush goalkeeper Jose Barraza also came to the rescue on several occasions, keeping the Falcons scoreless in the first half.

“Our goalkeeper is playing fantastic,” McCarty said. “He makes fantastic blocked shots, has been great for us.”

When the Falcons gave up a penalty in the late stages of the first half, midfielder James Hernandez calmly stepped up to the line and netted the game’s first goal.

“I feel like we had a great game, we had a lot chances created, we had a lot of possession. We just couldn’t put them away,” Hernandez said.

In the second half, Barraza picked up where he left off. In addition to a diving save early in the second half, Barraza made a penalty save to keep the Crush ahead.

CCC’s lead, however, only lasted until the 35th minute of the second half. That’s when freshman Eric Pye entered the match and scored the equalizer on his first touch of the ball.

“I’m happy with how our team played. I’m not happy with the result,” McCarty said. “I thought we had four or five really good chances to put the game away when we were up 1-0. Just the final quality wasn’t there, whether it was a good save or a little bit of a mishit.”

The Crush now have an overall record of 3-5-4 and a conference record of 1-2, currently sitting fourth in the Central Valley Conference.

“We have been working a lot on our mistakes. I feel like we have them down,” Hernandez said. “It just takes a little more of finishing games.”

The 1-1 result against Folsom came after a 2-0 win over West Hills-Lemoore. Before the win against West Hills, the Crush had a three-game losing streak.

“This is only our second season. Last year we didn’t drop any games in October,” McCarty said. “This is the time to get results and add up points against non-conference opponents.”

The Crush men’s soccer team is now 3-5-4 on the season after tying Folsom Lake at home on Wednesday, Oct. 10. (Photo courtesy of Jason Mendez/CCC)
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