Mariners Men's Soccer is no stranger to close matches and Friday's against Gavilan was no exception. A nil-nil halftime score was undone by a 55th minute goal by Gavilan's Edgar Roman, against the run of play. College of Marin had several chances to tie the game but could not do so before the end of the match. Goals have been few and far between and have been held scoreless for their past three games.
It began as a balanced affair with both College of Marin and Gavilan having fair share of possession. The Mariners went close twice in the first fifteen minute minutes but both shots went wide. In the thirtieth minute the Gavilan keeper was forced off with a minor injury and was deputized by one of his midfielders. The substitute keeper made a pair of nice saves preventing a College of Marin lead. The Gavilan keeper reentered the match in the 45th minute and carried on his shutout performance.
After the half both teams pressed forward, with Gavilan taking the advantage in first ten minutes of the second half. Mariners goalkeeper William Finnie did an admirable job of deflecting the rampant Gavilan attack, but was finally beaten by a close rebounded shot. College of Marin did their best to counter the opening goal, but were unable to break their goal scoring drought.
Finnie did an excellent job in goal, with a dozen saves but, like the rest of his team, found themselves on the wrong side of the score. The game got a bit contentious in the final ten minutes with yellow cards for both teams but no serious further punishments were handed down.
The Mariners finish their conference schedule with an 1-8-1 record, but see their slate wiped clean with the beginning of conference play. They open at Merritt College on Friday, September 30th.