Soccer team falls flat against Thunderbirds

Sloppy passing doomed the winless Comets to a 4-2 loss to their conference rival Merritt College in Oakland Friday.

While Contra Costa College (0-8 overall, 0-2 in the Bay Valley Conference) scored first, that would  spark the Thunderbirds (3-4-3 overall, 2-0 BVC) to score three goals in the first half.

Comet players were unavailable to comment after the game.

“Fundamentally we are not strong. We have players who are not here,” Comet coach Rudy Zeller said. “All three (of Merritt’s) goals were due to our turnovers.”

Despite CCC scoring two goals, a season high, the defense struggled throughout the game as Merritt kept the ball on the Comets’ side of the field.

Zeller said the scoring opportunities disappeared due to the Comet mistakes.

CCC’s next game will be at home against Yuba College (4-4-2 overall, 1-1-1 in the BVC) at 4 p.m.

Due to several injuries to their starting defenders, the Comets found hardships on defense.

Zeller said the Comets lack of chemistry is still affecting the way they play and hurts the team.

“We don’t have the skill to play (defense),” Zeller said.

Turnovers added more harm to the Comet scoring chances, which eventually led to their first half meltdown.

With 18:56 left in the first half, Comet striker Marco Solis found a clear path to the goal due to Thunderbird goalkeeper Carlos Sanchez leaving his goal area in an attempt to stop the shot.

The Comets played flat after they scored their first goal as the squad allowed the Thunderbirds to dominate.

The Thunderbirds controlled the offensive momentum of the game as they had 24 shots on goal compared to CCC’s six.

The Comets miscommunication problems gave the Thunderbirds momentum of the game.