By Matthew DeForest, Oct. 12, 2021
In their second game of the CCAA season on Oct. 3, the CPP men’s soccer team faced San Francisco State, resulting in a 2-2 draw. The game marks their second draw of the season, bringing the team’s overall CCAA record to 0-0-2.
SFSU struck quickly by scoring two goals within the first 20 minutes of the match. The Gators played aggressively, scoring two goals out of three shots taken in the first half of the game.
According to senior goalkeeper and captain Jordan Aldama, the game did not result in the outcome the team originally wanted but they are satisfied with their performance, nonetheless.
“It’s definitely disappointing to not get off on the note that we want to,” said Aldama. “Obviously, we were aiming to win both of those games but the fact that we fought back and scored, and we outshot them that game, we’ll take that.”
Outshooting SFSU by eight shots during the CCAA game, the Broncos maintained the same dominant ball control they have displayed throughout the regular season. The team utilized this aggressive style of play to carry momentum into the second half.
Sophomore midfielder Christian Miramontes scored a close goal followed by a successful penalty
kick goal from senior midfielder Kraig Bonanken.
According to Head Coach Matthew O’ Sullivan, the Broncos demonstrated characteristic resilience against SFSU by recovering from the early 2-0 score. However, he believes the team has fallen behind their opponents this season due to a lack of strong defensive plays.
“We’ve got to defend better. It’s the fifth time we’ve gone behind on the season out of eight games and you can’t keep doing that,” said O’Sullivan. “There were were multiple plays on each goal where I think six guys could have done something differently. We’re definitely creating a lot of problems for other teams, but we need to be able to fix problems.”
Despite outshooting the Gators 6-2 during overtime, the Broncos could not capitalize on any of their scoring opportunities and ended the game in a frustrating tie, according to midfielder Christian Miramontes.
“It was little mistakes, stuff that we easily could have fixed on the field if we really communicated,” said Miramontes. “We really do it to ourselves. It’s just about staying locked in from the start and having a sense of urgency from the start.”
While the team welcomed four freshman defenders with lots to learn this year, Aldama believes that better training and more experience will lead to improvement as the season progresses. “Every game they’re going to get more confidence. They’re going to get more experience and by the time two or three years come around for their junior and senior year they’ll look like completely different players,” said Aldama.
The team will face off against Cal State San Bernardino in their fifth CCAA game on Oct. 14.
For more information on the Team’s upcoming CCAA schedule, visit the CPP Athletics website.
Featured image courtesy of Lyle Ibarra.
