Clippers Drop Points to SWOCC, Overwhelm Lane in Week 2

Week two was a week of contrasts for the South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) Men's Soccer team. On Wednesday Sept. 11, the Clippers lost in unique fashion, having outshot their opponent 19-1. The visiting Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) Lakers scored on their only shot of the game.

"I have lost games in many different ways, but this is one I'll never forget", said coach Max Sampson. "We just couldn't will the ball past the goalkeeper, despite peppering them with chances. After the game, all we could talk about was how we need to create improved angles and execute better technique on that final moment of play. We swore for this to never happen again. We had a team meeting and covered what the boys needed from coaches, what I needed from them, and what they needed from each other as we move onto more competitions." 

The Clippers would redeem themselves the following Saturday in their match against Lane Community College. With a similar stat line as in their draw against Chemeketa, the Clippers would create many chances again, outshooting Lane 20-8. However, the Clips were able to pull away and decisively beat the Titans by a score of 4-1.

The party started in the 15th minute with a laced strike from freshman winger Alejandro De La Rosa from the right side of the box. Going into halftime the team knew one goal would not be enough; this was a lesson learned from previous games.

Entering the second half with lots of energy, an errant pass from a Lane midfielder to his defender was intercepted by a sprinting Mo Diallo who pushed the ball past the Lane goalkeeper to double the lead for SPSCC in the 47th minute.

Moments later, Mo Diallo danced around several Lane defenders and tapped the ball backwards to Edwin Quintana who ran onto the ball with pace, placing it into the top corner of the goal from 25 yards out to give the Clippers a three-goal advantage.

To cap off the day, captain and England native Alex Canning received a split pass from Dutch freshman Senna Exalto and cut the ball around the Lane goalkeeper to seal the victory.

Canning added, "We played well in possession retaining the ball and also pressing to retrieve. However, we struggled to convert chances when they came. The team spirit was low after a 1-0 defeat (versus SWOCC). Before the game versus Lane, we all felt this was a must-win game. After forgetting about the previous result, the team brought high energy and quality into this game. We had belief from the start of the match and we were ruthless in front of goal. The game ended 4-1, which lead to team morale becoming very high going into the next game against Portland CC."

The Clippers travel to Portland to face Portland Community College on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. PST, and then make the long drive to Rogue Community College on Saturday at noon. Both away games will complete their games versus the Oregon colleges of the southern region. After these trips, they will host Centralia to begin West Region play. All home games are played at the Regional Athletic Complex (RAC) in Lacey, Wash. Admission is free for all games.