Mariners Men's Soccer continues to make strides with every game, but despite Saturday's excellent performance, they still seek their first victory of the season. College of Marin battled back to tie the game twice in the first half, but could not grab the go ahead goal against College of the Redwoods in a 5-2 loss at home.
Redwoods got on the board in the first minute as a short cross from the left channel was punched in at short range to give them a 1-0 lead. Redwoods lead did not last past half an hour as Cesar Ramirez pounced on a long clearance and beat the keeper to tie the match at 1-1 in the 28th minute. The Mariners lead was short lived as a Redwoods counter attack quickly put them back up top by one.
The Mariners refused to go away, as Maleek Oden struck a picture perfect long ball that was picked up by Ramirez and slotted home in the 40th minute to tie the game at two goals apiece.
The teams came out of halftime at a breakneck speed with chances on both sides. Redwoods took advantage and netted their third goal in the 50th minute to retake the lead. They picked up a penalty kick shortly after as the attacker was taken down by the Marin keeper Luis Bernal. The Redwoods kick ricocheted off the right post and was cleared away to maintain the one goal deficit.
The Mariners had a few additional chances, but were not able to grab the tying goal. Redwoods scored twice more in the last five minutes of the match to finalize a 5-2 score.
Even though College of Marin failed to grab a favorable result, there were some positives from the loss to College of the Redwoods. With COM starting goalkeeper William Finnie suspended for the match, Luis Bernal started in goal and turned in a yeoman's performance with 14 saves, including a fully horizontal layout save to his right. Ramirez had a brace for the Mariners, his second and third goals of the season.
For Coach Jake Morrison "The first half we put up a fight and battled to keep things close, but in the second half it was just not our day. Credit to Redwood for playing some good ball and being better on the day." There were some positives in the loss, "Luis Bernal certainly deserves credit for his performance in the game today. Not many would put the team before themselves and make such a big sacrifice. He optimizes our programs believe in maturity, integrity and accountability. "
College of Marin has only a day of rest as they host Siskiyous on Monday, September 12th at 3pm.