Back in the saddle
COC Insider: Cougars sophomore returns to the pitch after taking a fouryear break from school and soccer
Andres Lozano had not scored a goal in 1,424 days
On Tuesday, the sophomore forward recorded a hat trick to help lift College of the Canyons to a 5-1 victory over visiting Allan Hancock College and put the Cougars back in the win column for the first time in more than a month.
Lozano, who played his freshman season at Canyons back in 2014 before returning to the program last summer, was also making his first start of the season.
“I felt really good out there,” said Lozano who last netted a goal on Nov. 7, 2014 in a 1-1 draw vs. Oxnard College. “That was my first hat trick, but it felt good to get the win.”
The five goals scored by Canyons (3-3-2) represented a season high and snapped a three-game scoreless streak for the Cougars. After alternating draws and losses over the last four games, the insertion of Lozano into the starting lineup might have been the spark COC needed.
“From minute one coach told me to go all out, and that’s what I did,” Lozano said. “Before the game (the team) got to together and talked about it and figured out how we were going to play as a team. And it worked out pretty fine.”
Lozano didn’t score the game’s first goal. That instead came off the foot of sophomore midfielder Jorge Rojas in the ninth minute. But with the game tied at 1-1 early in the first half the Cougar attack found its rhythm, and Lozano was there for the final touch with goals in the 25th and 32nd minutes.
The sophomore, who prepped at Golden Valley High School, added another in the 53rd minute to give Canyons a comfortable 4-1 advantage. Moments later sophomore forward Cesar Dominguez found the back of the net to end the scoring at 5-1.
“We played as a team and that was a really big part of today’s game,” said Dominguez about the Cougars’ ability to continually push the ball up field and create scoring opportunities. “I’m proud of what we did today, there is still a lot to improve on, but this is a good step to keep going forward.”
Dominguez was also credited with an assist on Lozano’s second goal. The
duo was able to create at least three additional scoring opportunities that didn’t find the back of the net. Canyons had nine shots on goal in the game compared to seven for the Bulldogs.
COC goalkeeper Gabriel Ochoa started and surrendered the lone goal before giving way to Emerson Chavarria to begin the second half. The duo combined for six goals in the game, with Ochoa eventually earning the win.
“This team has a lot of talented players, so when you get in you have to go all out,” Dominguez said. “(Lozano) did very well tonight, that’s why he finished with three goals.”
COC head coach Phil Marcellin was also pleased with how his team played on Tuesday.
“We finally started clicking and making our attacking movements actually work,” Marcellin said. “It was an important performance for us to be strong. We scored early, then we gave away the goal, but then boom boom, we kept going.
“For them to play with that energy, and for us to get guys in that haven’t been getting in games, it’s all positives,” he added “I’m excited about it.”
The win over Allan Hancock (5-4-2) was important on several fronts. The Bulldogs entered the match having previously defeated Bakersfield College 5-1 and Glendale College 3-1 in back-toback contests last week.
Both Bakersfield and Glendale compete in the Western State Conference (WSC), South Division, along with the Cougars.
“This was a good barometer for us,” Marcellin said. “(Allan Hancock) had been scoring a ton of goals, so we knew they were going to be offensive minded, but we also knew that if we played well we could have some chances.”
Canyons will play a final non-conference match at No. 17 state ranked Oxnard College on Friday before conference play begins Tuesday, Oct. 9 with the Cougars hosting Citrus.
Last season COC lost three of its first four conference matches, then bounced back to post a record of 4-1-1 across its final six contests to head into the final game of the year with postseason aspirations. The Cougars fell just short of reaching that goal but are determined to make this season different.
“In the long history of this program we’ve done well, but we’ve always gotten off to a slow start in conference, never taken three points in our first conference match,” Marcellin said. “The tempo, the sharing of the ball the moving the ball, that’s what we’re going to need to do to compete (in conference), and that’s what we’re gearing up for.”