The Mariners broke the deadlock early and then hung on to grab their first win of the year 3-2 over Gavilan College in Gilroy. On Friday, the Mariners took the 2:00PM kickoff time in stride as they opened the scoring in the first minute. The early goal settled their nerves as they recorded their highest goal tally of the year. The three scored by College of Marin were enough to carry them through for the win.
Carlos De Leon scored first for the Mariners as he took a pass off the boot of Jonathan Blanco and beat the Gavilan keeper for an early 1-0 Marin lead. The quick goal allowed the Mariners to play their game, and dictate tempo, a rarity this season. The team kept their aggressive approach through the first half as they continued to push forward and earned a penalty in the 24th minute. Jason De Leon walked to the penalty spot and converted for a two goal Mariner lead.
The Mariners went to the halftime locker room with the multigoal advantage, but it did not last long. Gavilan began the second half with a newfound self-belief and were very aggressive in the final third. Mariners keeper Colin Sneddon did he best job to parry the home team's attack, but the breakthrough came to cut the lead to 2-1 Marin.
Instead of playing defensively, the Mariners opted to continue pushing forward, seeking to rebuild a two-goal lead. Gavilan's defense remained stout, but Marin sophomore Jesus Villeda Ochoa would not be denied as in the 81st minute he beat the keeper for a 3-1 lead. The home team pulled one back in the waning moments of the match but Marin held on for the 3-2 victory, their first of the season.
Coach Michael Crivello was very pleased with his team and their play, "Great result today! We battled a good Gavilan team, showed some really quality in our play and are really starting to gel as a team and trusting one another. Hopefully we can build off this as we head into the league season."
The Mariners were very efficient with six shots on goal and three goals overall while Sneddon stopped eight opposing shots in the victory.
College of Marin has one more non-conference game on Tuesday, September 19th at Ohlone College before conference play begins on September 29th against Mendocino College.