Go-Ahead Goal in 88th Minute Nets Season Opening Win for Huskies

by Cerwin D Haynes

It's typical to lament missed opportunities in a match: a missed pass on a setup piece, a point-blank shot on goal that misses the entire net, or a penalty kick that goes wide.

It is, however, easier to use such instances as learning tools when you win the game. Despite not taking advantage of a 21-7 shot advantage for most of the game, East LA College men's soccer got the goal they needed most: a go-ahead score by freshman CM Kevin Paniagua off a short pass by LW Andrew Barojas late in the 88th minute. The Huskies, in the season opener, turn away San Diego Miramar College 2-1. 

Miramar freshman MF Andrew Vanniewenhoven got the visitors on the board first: when a Miramar shot deflected off Huskies' GK Benjamin Puentes, the ball bounced right in front of Vanniewenhoven for the shot. But East LA answered quickly: RW Isaac Bonilla found himself in the same situation, capitalizing off a deflected save by GK Dominic Surdock when the ball bounced right to him. A short 5' strike tied the game at 1.

ELAC had a few offensive setups that garnered them some good shot opportunities, particularly in the second half. To wit: a penalty kick attempt off a handball foul in the box saw sophomore CB Lucas Souza line up one on one against Miramar's goalie. But his shot was uncharacteristically wide, missing right of the net.

ELAC head coach Eddie Flores, always the tough judge, will take the win while knowing there's a lot of work to do.

"Sloppy game" said the longtime coach.

HUSKY BITS

• Puentes got the start in front of the Huskies' net and had four saves on five shots.
• Each team got assessed one yellow card in the second half.

UP NEXT:

East LA will play two games next week on a rare back-to-back: they will travel to West Hills-Lemoore on Wednesday August 27th and then come back home to host Santiago Canyon on Thursday the 28th. Back-to-backs are usually unheard of in soccer; Coach Flores couldn't get these opponents on the typical Tuesday/Friday game day cycle, but acquiesced to the unique scheduling. "We needed to get these games in" he said.