Mariners Men's Soccer endured a frustrating Friday afternoon in Oakland, as they were shut out by the Thunderbirds of Merritt College 2-0. The Marin defense did their best to contain the home team's attack as Merritt peppered the Marin goal with 13 shots during the match.
Merritt began the match on the front foot, as they had a pair of excellent chances to go ahead early. Goal keeper Colin Sneddon made some excellent saves to keep the match tied at 2-0. Marin struggled to create chances of their own as they were unable to maintain possession in the attacking third. Alex Schten had a decent look from outside the box but it was saved by the Merritt keeper.
The two teams completed the first forty five minutes of play without a goal and the score tied at 0-0. The second half played much like the first, but after a few minutes, the Mariners ran out of energy which allowed Merritt to take control of the match. Merritt's Aimen Sharay put his team in front with a goal off a pass from Sekou Fofana. Merritt doubled their advantage to 2-0 when Nyutt Khim scored from close range.
Marin could not manage any real chances on goal as the team had just four shots and only two on goal. Defensively the team did their best, but the two goals were too much to overcome. Sneddon did an excellent job between the pipes saving 11 of Merritt's 13 shots.
"Good effort today by the team," Said Head Coach Michael Crivello. "We ran out of steam in the second half, and were not able to create enough quality chances, but we competed hard and just fell short today."
The Mariners record sits at 3-9-3 and 2-6-1 in Bay Valley Conference competition. Their final match of the season is Thursday, November 9th at Yuba College.