Men’s soccer wins first victory

PCC men’s soccer won its first South Coast Conference victory, improving its overall record to 4-5-2 and conference record to 1-3-1 with a well deserved 3-1 win over conference foe Los Angeles Harbor College on Tuesday at Robinson Stadium.A second half strike by Hagop Chirshian proved to be enough to push PCC men’s soccer team past Harbor College who slipped to 6-4-4 and 1-2-1 in the SCC.

After being put through on a ball into the Seahawks corner, freshman midfielder Ricky Reyes held the ball wonderfully, allowing the forward to find space inside the 18-yard box. Chirshian slotted a right-footed shot home past keeper Logan Adams.

The score very well could have been more lopsided, if not for a decent effort by the Seahawk net-minder, and the lack of marksmanship on the part of the Lancers.

After going into the locker room down 1-0 after a first half of missed opportunities and uncharacteristic miscues on defense, Soccer Director Cherif Zein brought on midfielder Greg Altounian, whose impact was visible immediately.

Zein was rewarded for his decision minutes later when Altounian was first to a ball near the end line and fired a pass perfectly into the path of the oncoming Reyes who tapped it in easily.

PCC dominated play in the second half. PCC’s offense earned themselves an overabundance of chances, but could not finish.
The Lancers peppered Adams with many shots, and while he did come up deftly when defender Malcolm Linton’s long-throw found his line-mate Tommy Hancock in the box and when he stopped Linton’s screaming volley from outside the 18, he wasn’t forced to move laterally. Reyes, Chirshian, and play-maker Benjamin Martin were intentionally trying to boot the ball through him.

Keeping the ball down proved to be another hurdle for the Lancers. Forward Gurgen Adzemian, who played well but did not to score, went north of the bar in the first half, while Altounian couldn’t measure his shot from a distance and cleared the bar with ease.

After being set up beautifully by consecutive dummy balls off a corner, Chirshian had a clear line from 25 yards out but his shot nearly left the grounds.

Holding midfielder Daniel Simonian finally cashed in late in the game when he was first to meet Adzemian’s corner and neatly slid his header by Adams, to secure the victory.

Seahawk forward Alex Guerrero re-directed Alexis Lopez’s free kick from 25 yards into the crossbar, just out of reach of Lancer keeper Steve Rulec, but Guerrero would not be denied, cleaning up his own rebound and heading home from point blank range.

Aside from coming outside of the 18 to deny Seahawk forward Alex Madrigal who had a clear path on goal, Rulec had little to do all day.

The only man on the pitch busier than Adams was the referee, who handed out seven yellow cards and numerous warning to both teams.