Posted: Aug 30, 2024
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A pair of second half goals from the Laramie County Community College men's soccer team helped them to take down top ranked Monroe College on Friday afternoon pushing the LCCC record to 2-1 and giving the team their second win in a row.
The two sides played to a scoreless draw in the opening half despite the two teams taking a combined 18 shots in the first 45 minutes. Perez said it was a good showing from his side in their willingness to match the energy for the entire half.
"It was definitely even," Head Coach Fernando Perez said. "They were attacking well and so were we. We just had to feel it out for 45 minutes and then regroup at halftime."
In the second half, the Golden Eagles were able to strike first after a foul inside of the 18 resulted in a penalty kick for Cooper Johnson in the 58th minute which he finished to give LCCC a 1-0 lead.
Johnson just became eligible and he makes and he is someone who adds more depth to the LCCC attack.
"He adds more energy, adds leadership," Perez said. "He's continued to add what we want from all of them and he is just another piece to the puzzle."
That was followed up by a run made by Roy Mendoza-Huerta for his first goal of the season, finishing and unassisted strike to put the Golden Eagles up 2-0 in the 71st minute. The goal was one that was pretty spectacular and Perez said his composure helped to finish the shot.
"Roy being who he is, very calm, cool, and collected, and a technical player just made his way into the box and placed a good shot."
With the two-goal lead, the chance at the upset didn't cause the Golden Eagles to lose focus. Even though the Mustangs closed the gap with an 87th minute goal, Perez said he wasn't worried about the possibility of a follow up with the focus the men kept.
"Once somebody scores, other goals can come on counters and things like that but overall we played in the formation that was going to be successful and they did their job," Perez said.
The Golden Eagles were outshot in the match 17-11 but had a higher percentage of their shots land on goal with five in the game. Luke Hyatt finished with six saves over 90 minutes, and the teams combined for only six corner kicks.
The Golden Eagle next will face off with Monroe Community College who is hosting the two-game set for LCCC in a nightcap that will begin at 5:00 pm MDT. The Tribunes enter the contest at 2-0 with wins over Finger Lakes Community College and Lakeland Community College, both of which were 2-0 wins.
Links to stream the match are available at www.golccc.com and more information can be found on the LCCC men's schedule as well.