Rams mangle Comets, 6-1

A second half defensive meltdown by the men’s soccer team allowed Fresno City College to take a commanding 6-1 victory over Contra Costa College at home on Friday.

CCC (1-2) competed well throughout the game, but gave up four goals to the Rams in the last 20 minutes of the game.

“We held them down for the first 70 minutes of the game but we fell apart,” Comet coach Rudy Zeller said. “Our players (eventually) got tired.”

FCC (1-0) allowed the Comets to attempt 13 shots on goal compared to its 19.

CCC played out of sync in the final 20 minutes of the second half.

The Comets seemed to lose their composure and stopped playing as a team when the Rams scored their second goal in the first half.

“Once they scored that second goal we lost our morale,” Comet defender Jorge Ramirez said. “We need to work on our communication and once we learn that we will be a better squad.”

CCC will play Chabot College on Friday at 4 p.m. at home.

Comet midfielder Luis Mendoza said the team will move on from its loss and look at it as a learning experience.

“We have to learn from our mistakes,” Mendoza said. “We were playing good but we let our guard down.”

The Rams took advantage of the Comets lax second half defense by scoring five goals in the final 45 minutes.

“We got overconfident (when we scored) that goal and we stopped playing hard in the final 20 minutes,” Ramirez said.

With 28:13 remaining in the first half Rams forward Eligio Morales scored FCC’s first goal of the game.

CCC was able to respond to the goal with 47 minutes left in the second half when Comet midfielder Romario Pena scored a close goal.

Ram midfielder Juan Madrigal was able to score his first of three straight goals with 27:36 remaining in the second half.

Five minutes later he kicked in his second goal of the game.

Madrigal then scored his third goal of the contest when Comet goalie Fernando Llamas gave him a clear path to shoot and score, putting the Rams ahead 4-1.

Zeller was forced to pull out the freshman goalie after giving up that goal.

“(I pulled Fernando out) because he made a horrendous play that led to a goal,” Zeller said.

Llamas was able to block a total of 14 goals during his time on the field.

Despite the goalie switch, the lackluster Comet defense allowed FCC midfielder Oswel Mariles to add a score of his own with nine minutes left in the game.

The last goal came with five minutes remaining when Morales was able to score his second goal of the game.

“We gave up (in the second half),” Comet defender Gurjeet Singh said.

“We gave (FCC) too much of a gap. Hopefully next game we will be solid.”