Oxnard strikes twice, including game-winner in final minutes, to win its second CCCAA Men's Soccer Championship
SACRAMENTO - Lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice often. But when it does, it’s usually a special situation.
Sunday evening, Oxnard College got a pair of lightning strikes from Odin Rosten as the Condors knocked off Mt. San Antonio College 2-1 to win the California Community College Athletic Association men’s soccer championship on a muddy, rain-soaked field at American River College in Sacramento.
“Anyone who’s watching this game at home or here, should share my opinion that this is a future pro,” Oxnard coach Ross Greaney said after the win. “Not just a future D1 player, but a future pro. He’s lightning and he’s got great skills and you saw that in the two goals he got done for us.
Rosten opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. He received a pass in the center circle just on the Mt. SAC half of the field. With room to carry the ball, he accelerated between two defenders then cut to the arc on top of the penalty box. Just inside the arc, he blasted a shot across his body into the upper left corner of the goal.
Another individual effort by Rosten put Oxnard in the lead in the 87th minute. Running up the left wing, he touched the ball into the penalty box and fought off a challenge from a Mt. SAC defender. He jumped around the defender, and was able to touch the ball past a second defender, leaving him alone about 10 yards to the left of goal. He settled the ball and fired it inside the right hand post past a diving Jacob Cardenas.
“The second goal I wasn’t expecting to get the ball back,” Rosten said of the game-winner. “I went to goal, I dribbled through two defenders and I was leaning over and got it into the bottom corner. First goal, I thought nothing would be better than that one.”
The excitement of the finish was the direct opposite of how Oxnard went into the halftime break. Mt. SAC was able to get an equalizer in stoppage time.
The Mounties moved the ball up field quickly crossing the ball from the right side to Hunter Devlin. He put the ball into the middle to Edward Castro, who one-touched a pass to Alex Mendez at the edge of the penalty area. Mendez took a step and was tackled and tripped in the box by Enrique Tiscareno. Mendez calmly stepped up to the penalty spot and rolled the ball into the left side of the net with his left foot.
The late goal was a tough pill to swallow for Greaney and his team, who have had troubles against Mt. SAC in the past.
“Basically the exact opposite of emotions of what we felt at halftime because that was a tough way to end the half,” Greaney said of his emotions after the victory. “Mt. SAC is an awesome team, I mean they’re here almost every year. And we’ve never beaten Mt. SAC. We’ve had a lot of close games, we’ve been there and done that, so to overcome them in these conditions. Not knowing when the game was going to start, not being able to play our normal passing game because of the mud and the rain. But just to have a bunch of special players, this is a really special group we’ve got this year.”
Mt. SAC took advantage of the momentum at the start of the second half, pressing forward on the Condors, and nearly taking the lead.
Their best chance came in the 76th minute. The Condors had the ball deep in their own end after a goal kick, trying to work the ball out past a pressuring Mt. SAC attack. But Mt. SAC forced a turnover at the edge of the penalty area, quickly going to the goal. Andrew Vazquez made a quick centering pass to Frank Gonzalez at the top of the 6-yard box, who one-timed a shot that goalkeeper Efrain Perez kicked away with his right foot as he was leaning to his left. Oxnard was able to clear the ball to end the threat.
(Bill Norris, CCCSIA)