CHEYENNE, WY – The Laramie County Community College men's soccer team struggled in their home opener on Saturday afternoon against #2 Arizona Western College, falling behind 6-0 in the first half before stemming the tide in the second in an 8-1 loss.

"Today didn't go our way but I know the goals are going to come as long as we continue to show up to training and continue to put the work in," Head Coach Fernando Perez said after the quiet showing on offense from his team.

The Matadors got off to a quick start, scoring the opening goal in the 6^th minute on a redirected cross from Rezhiz Koxhaj.

That was followed up just seven minutes later with an unassisted goal from Paolo Grizzetti, who assisted on the first goal. Grizzetti would finish with another assist eleven minutes later on a Erick Mejia goal that made it 3-0 AWC.

Ayumu Kimura began his run to a hat trick in the game for the Matadors in the 28^th minute with a goal to make it 4-0, and he would add another in the 30^th, sandwiching a goal from Karim Nlamu in between to make it 6-0 after just a half hour of play.

The Golden Eagles picked up their intensity in the final 15 minutes of the half and didn't surrender another strike to Arizona Western.

After the half, the Matadors picked up where they left off with Kimura scoring his third goal of the game in the 50^th minute. Arizona Western put their final goal on the board in the 69^th minute with a third assist from Asaki Nakamura to Yves Sisse making it 8-0.

LCCC responded shortly after as sophomore Azael Marrufo danced through three defenders on his way to the opening goal of the year in the 70^th minute marking his fifth career goal in college.

Perez said the team started getting more sound as the game went on, but the attack needs to continue to grow.

"Going into the attack and teaching them the way we play and the way we move in the final third," he said.

While the goal trimmed the gap, it didn't change the result, as the Golden Eagles fell to a final of 8-1.

"In the second half we started off stronger, but I think there are still a lot of little things that we have to put together to fulfill the season and end on a good note," Perez said.

The team saw a pair of yellow cards handed out to Jonathan Ruvalcaba in the 63^rd minute and Cheick Cisse in the 89^th minute.

Laramie County will be back in action this coming weekend when they travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for a pair of games. First battling Yavapai College from Arizona at noon on the 26^th before a game with #4 Salt Lake Community College at noon on Sunday, August 27^th.