Men’s soccer wins central coast conference
Dons rush to 1-0 win over Hartnell College to capture title
November 22, 2014
The De Anza College men’s soccer team won its 22nd conference championship with a 1-0 victory over Hartnell College on Friday Nov. 14.
Despite a valiant effort by the Hartnell team and many near misses, the aggressive offense of De Anza proved themselves as a strong adversary.
The only goal in the game was scored by freshman midfielder Roberto Mendoza on a free kick in the 25th minute.
“I’m very proud of having an attacking team,” said Rusty Johnson, head coach of men’s soccer at De Anza.
“This team and the guys that we have up top are so creative that the other teams can’t deal with us,” Johnson said.
Daniel Ortega, head coach for the Hartnell men’s soccer team, expressed his own views of the De Anza team during halftime.
“They’ve only lost one match,” he said. “They’re a good side, we knew that going in.”
Ortega said he felt the match had been pretty easy up to halftime, but his team made a mistake and hit the post with a shot attempt.
At the start of the second half, the game turned more aggressive. Sophomore defender Luis Orendain got injured and spent a short time being checked before returning to the game in a show of his team’s discipline and teamwork.
“It’s something you cultivate in training camp,” Ortega said. “You kind of break them down with all the hard work and then you build them back up.”
Both teams continued to push for dominance in the second half after De Anza’s second goal 62nd minute of the game.
The game closed into its 102nd minute with a final score of 1-0 in De Anza’s favor, which led to displays of jumping, laughter and excitement from the Dons.
“It feels great finally getting a shot for the championship,” said freshman midfielder
Ruben Hernandez.
The Dons finished the season with a record of 18-1-1 and will play in the second round of the NorCal Regional championships on Tuesday Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. against the winner of the game between Las Positas College and City College of San Francisco.
“We’ve got to keep pushing,” Hernandez said. “It’s not done yet.”
