“Unreal!” COD Men’s Soccer knocks off #3 team in nation, 2-1

COD (1-0) opened up the 2018 season at home and with expectations elevated for this season, the Roadrunners decided to begin against the #3 team in the nation, the Cerritos Falcons (0-1), knocking off the perennial State Title contenders, 2-1.

Cerritos got onto the board first, as they had misfired on an earlier attempt to feed it to their leading scorer on an earlier attempt on goal. But the second time, he would not miss from 20 yards out and dead center into the net, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the 26^th minute.

Less than two minutes later, the Roadrunners seized on a huge miscalculation by the Falcons keeper. The previous couple of offensive sets for Desert saw the Cerritos keeper jogging up to midfield and then retreating back to his net. Then it happened again, only to have a quick turnover at midfield put the Falcons in a dangerous spot as freshman midfielder Lucas Rosales (La Quinta H.S.) lifted a shot up over the opposing keeper. And even though, the Cerritos keeper ran back as hard as he could, the Falcons could not catch up to Rosales' shot as it rolled into the back of the net, tying the score at 1-1.

With the game tied at 1-1, and apparently not having learned his lesson the first time around, the Falcons goalie started cheating in towards midfield again, completely leaving his box. Exactly seven minutes later, in the 35^th minute, Rosales found himself in the same exact spot, about 45 yards out and after grabbing a Falcons turnover, shot it toward the net and once again, the Cerritos keeper was out of positon and could not run back fast enough to keep the Roadrunners from taking the lead, 2-1.

Rosales would later comment, "got a good touch (on both turnovers), and I think I heard my coach say to 'shoot it' and looked up and the goalie was out, took the shot and fortunately it went into the back of the net." Both teams would go into halftime with the Roadrunners holding a 2-1 lead.

Freshman goal keeper Jesus Negrete (Thermal Desert Mirage) had phenomenal afternoon in net, thanks to his brilliant defense in front of him. "We played our heart out, it's how every game is gonna be." Negrete faced 43 shots, having to make 13 saves, along with 11 corner kicks and as the game got closer to a potential upset, Cerritos ratcheted up the pressure.

In the play of the game, in the 58^th minute, sophomore defender Andrassy Teran (La Quinta H.S.) threw his body in the way of an indirect kick that had pulled the keeper out of the net. Teran slid hard into the corner of the net to close the gap, knocking the Falcons ball out and then slamming his shin into the post at full speed. The initial expectations were not good, as Teran rolled into the net in obvious pain, but thank goodness for shin guards as the training staff put him on their cart and about ten minutes later Teran was back in the game.

Negrete later stated, "I mean, you just saw one of my defenders Andy, he gave it all on that play and hit himself into the post, but he didn't care, he saved the goal, saved my back and they got my back and I got their back."

The Falcons had not lost a regular season game in regulation since November 4th, 2016 and the Cerritos keeper had not surrendered more than one goal in a game all of last season. With this win, many of whom consider to be the greatest victory in Roadrunners Men's Soccer program history, there is no rest, as the team travels to the Santa Ana Dons on Friday.

Follow COD Athletics on Twitter @COD_Athletics Instagram @COD_Athletics or Facebook @College of the Desert Athletics

For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.