Hornets tally first victory

In a game where the Hornets' best scorer started at goalkeeper, the men's soccer team managed to hold off a late comeback attempt by Irvine Valley College to tally its first win of the season, 4-3, last Saturday

The Hornets came out firing after a tough loss last Tuesday against Golden West College. The Hornets had two shots on goal within the first five minutes of kick-off.

The Lasers (3-6) would not be intimidated by the struggling Fullerton (1-4-2) squad. The Lasers took an early lead in the 5th minute of the game after a 40-yard free kick slipped out of goalkeeper Pablo Venegas' hands and into the crowd in front of the goal. The Laser's offense found the loose ball and headed it in for the lead.

Fullerton responded with consistent attacks that lead to a brilliant through-ball to midfielder Christopher Marvin for a one-on-one with the goalie. After Marvin maneuvered his way around the keeper, he tapped in a slow roller to tie up the game at one.

"We have to stay focused on our abilities," said Juan Castro, Fullerton assistant coach, before the game. "We have to stay confident."

Fullerton lost focus on a play late in the first half when a defensive mishap lead to an easy goal by the Lasers' freshman leading scorer, Andy Martinez, to put them ahead going into halftime, 2-1.

"We practiced everything that has happened in the game," said Andy Perez, Fullerton head coach. "We know how [Irvine] plays and we practiced all of their set plays at least 20 or 30 times. Their goals were our mistakes."

Fullerton came out of halftime with a chip on their shoulders. Venegas came out of goal for the second half and returned to his spot as a forward. Two quick goals in the first ten minutes of the second half gave Fullerton the lead once again at 3-2. The second of the two goals came off of a counter attack by Venegas in the 55th minute, which made up for his mistakes as goalkeeper in the first half.

Venegas then added another goal in the 66th minute off a lob pass from 40 yards out. He let the ball bounce into a better position and then drilled one past the keeper putting the Hornets ahead 4-2.

Irvine would add another goal in the 86th minute but proved to be too late against a tough defensive effort lead by Michael Farfan. Farfan's tough defense annoyed the Lasers offense to the point where a near fight almost broke out in the last minutes after Bryan Bautista got tangled up with an Irvine forward. As tempers continued to flare amongst the Lasers' bench, the Hornets walked away the victors, 4-3.

"We've been losing as a team, tying as a team, working hard as a team, so definitely the whole team."

The Hornets next take on a stellar Riverside (6-1-1) team on Tuesday.