AHC puts Oxnard away early
The match lasted 90 minutes. The suspense lasted about four.
Isaac Torres, the Hancock College men's soccer team's leading scorer with 22 goals this year, booted in a penalty kick in the fourth minute, and the Bulldogs cruised from there for an easy 3-0 victory over Oxnard Tuesday.
The Bulldogs improved to 4-2 in the Western State Conference and 10-5-3 overall. Oxnard dropped to 1-4-1 and 3-9-4. Hancock hosts Citrus at 4 p.m. Friday, then plays at 3 p.m. Tuesday at WSC leader Santa Barbara.
Torres scored twice, and Chris Nunez scored in between Torres' goals. All the scoring came in the first half, and Martin Burgos, Nathan Nunez, and Chris Nunez all had assists as the Bulldogs handled the ball well throughout.
"We needed a boost going into those big games — we've got (second-place Glendale) after Santa Barbara," said Bulldogs defender Kris Colt. "We don't want to look past Citrus, but Santa Barbara and Glendale are big games for us and we got what we wanted today."
"Chris Nunez and Martin Burgos really moved the ball well," said Torres. "And we got good passing from our wings."
Oxnard coach Jorge Brescia yelled a lot during the game, and he was at his most vocal in his displeasure with his defense after Torres drew an early foul. He kicked the ball past Condors goalie Estevan Mendoza into the right side of the net on the penalty kick.
Hancock kept the pressure on, and in the game's 17th minute, Chris Nunez took a pass from Burgos between two Condors and knocked the ball past Mendoza from 10 yards out to make it 2-0. Torres scored the final goal when he broke free and blasted one from 10 yards out that went off Mendoza's hands into the net.
Not only did the Bulldogs get good ball movement Tuesday, they also got good defense from Colt, Kyle Beattie, Julio Thompson, Homero Vazquez, and sweeper Billy Barbaree. The Bulldogs controlled the midfield area as well most of the game. Bulldogs starting goalie Jason Hancock and reserve Francisco Rojo foiled the Condors the few times they got past the Bulldogs' defense.
"Kris played a great game today," Bulldogs coach Al Garcia said. "We have 20 guys and they all played plenty today."
Oxnard showed more offense in the second half than it did in the first, but the Condors had only one good shot on goal. That came when Antonio Trujillo's shot from about 30 yards out went just over the top crossbar in the game's 58th minute.