“Coming Together As A Team” those are the words echoed by Head Men’s Soccer Coach Bobby Quinlan and Director of Soccer Chris King. Both are working hard with their young soccer squad that is hungry for their first victory.

After a pair of hard fought losses in the first week of the season, a brutal schedule awaited the Mariners Men’s Soccer team with three home games against Butte College, West Valley College and Fresno City College.

The Mariners matched up against Butte College on Tuesday. Butte began on a high note as a ball lofted into the box found the head of Sergio Martinez who found the back of the net beyond the hands of Marin keeper Colin Sneddon in the fifth minute. The Mariners found the equalizer in the 35 minute from a direct free kick from midfielder Julien Melendez.  The Mariners frontline unleashed a barrage of shots against the Butte goal but were unable to take lead the lead before halftime. The second half saw an even matched affair until set of nifty passes put Butte ahead for good in the 80^th from the foot of Omar Camarena. Butte tacked on a third goal just before the final whistle yielding a 3-1 final score.

With little time to rest, the College of Marin hosted West Valley College on Thursday, September 10^th. The teams previously met in the first round of the state playoffs in 2014 with West Valley winning 4-0.  The match began tentatively before both teams took an aggressive approach to the match. Both the Mariners and West Valley had several chances to score, but West Valley found the opening goal in the 38^th minute from Leonardo Silva. Although the Mariners had many opportunities to score in the second half, they failed to find the equalizer as West Valley took the victory 1-0.

Less than 24 hours later the Mariners played perennial soccer power house Fresno City College. City College launched five first half shots on Mariners Keeper Colin Sneddon who valiantly stopped all attacks as the teams entered the break knotted at 0-0. College of Marin had a golden opportunity to score as the second half opened but the shot flashed wide. Tired legs did the Mariners in as Fresno scored three goals in a 20 minute period in the second half. Despite the goals, the Mariners did get a penalty save from replacement keeper Joey Ledesma.

Although the team is yet to find a win in their first five matches, every game remains competitive as the Mariners are likely to find the correct side of the ledger before long.