After finishing the regular season with a dominating 5-2 win over El Camino College-Compton Center, the No. 7 seed men’s soccer team looks forward to home field advantage in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Lancers, who finished above .500 with an 8-6-7 record, will not technically have home field advantage even when they will be the “home” team. The problem lies with the dimensions of PCC’s home field.
“Our field isn’t regulation size,” head coach Edgar Manvelyan said. “Now we will have to play at Occidental College or some other field for our first playoff game against Oxnard College. We hope the crowd shows up to watch.”
Manvelyan found out on Wednesday that PCC would be playing at Azusa Pacific University’s soccer field at 2 p.m.
Manvelyan said that California Community College Athletics Association (CCCAA) regulations stated that the field be 70 yards wide and 110 yards in length. He said that PCC’s field is about 65 yards in width.
Head of sports information Robert Lewis said that the CCCAA had allowed PCC to play regular season home games at Robinson Stadium, but wouldn’t let them have post-season games on that field.
“A few other schools have similar issues,” Lewis said. “The school had planned to build an auxiliary field for the soccer teams, but I think it got lost in the transition between [college presidents] and just didn’t happen.”
Lancers goalie Gaetano Perez, who leads the team on and off the field, said that it didn’t matter where PCC played.
“No matter what, we will have to win every game,” Perez said. “It will be a little more difficult not playing at home for the entire playoffs, but I think we can play any team we face.”
Despite not having the same home field advantage that other teams will have during the playoffs, Perez said that the team was excited to have been ranked in the top 10 and just to be in the playoffs.
The Lancers last made the playoffs in 2008 when they made the SoCal semifinals. It will also be the first time in four seasons under Manvelyan that PCC has made it to the Southern California Regional Playoffs.
“I’m excited,” Manvelyan said. “We got a good draw and now we have to focus on beating Oxnard.… I do wish they could have stretched out the field when it was built because it looks like the had the room, but it is what it is.”
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