Men’s soccer wins in quarter-finals, will face Whatcom Community College in semifinals.
On the snow-covered turf at the SFCC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4, the CCS Sasquatch won in overtime fashion over the Tacoma Community College Titans to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
The air was cold on the field, but tempers were hot as the two teams battled it out in the flurry of an early pre-winter snowstorm that blanketed the Inland Northwest over the weekend.
With the weather conditions, there were little scoring chances, but the competition did not appear to disappoint the few but committed fans in attendance.
Jesus Meraz-Rodriguez opened the scoring about 35 minutes into the first half to give the Sasquatch the 1-0 lead. They would keep this score leading into half-time.
Early into the second half, Tacoma’s Kyle Rivers would get the ball past Sasquatch goalie Caleb Garbuio to equalize the score at about the 54th minute.
Then tensions rose when Sasquatch defender Oswal Lopez got into an altercation with Tacoma midfielder Tony Corado-Flores, both earning a yellow card for their own respective actions.
Head Coach Kenny Krestian would exchange words with Tacoma’s head coach Jason Prenovost before the refs would step in. The game would continue on.
Then in overtime, at 91:53, Sasquatch forward Ian Schimandle was able to get the ball past Tacoma’s goalie Hunter Bowman to break the tie and give the Sasquatch the overtime win. Without any avail, Schimandle began being mobbed by his teammates to celebrate their victory.
After the game, players like sophomore Saul Maciel felt proud of his team.
“I thought we definitely came out strong,” Maciel said. “We were ready to fight so we could have
success.”
Other players like sophomore Dominic Welch felt a strong sense of teamwork throughout the game.
“I believe it was our effort,” Welch said. “When it didn’t go our way, we put heads down and got to working.”
The Sasquatch will face the Whatcom Community College Orca’s at the S tarfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA on Friday, Nov. 10.