Mt. SAC Wins Back-To-Back Men's Soccer State Championships

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Freshman forward Luis Fuentes had a hat trick on Sunday morning and Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) beat College of the Canyons 4-0 in the finals of the 2010 California Community College Men's Soccer State Championship. This is the second consecutive title for the Mounties after winning the state's top honor in 2009. 

The Mounties opened up their scoring in the 24th minute when Jose Reyes pushed a Mt. SAC player from behind, and the Mounties were granted a penalty kick . Fuentes stepped up and kicked the ball to the right of COC's keeper Alex Burkevics, who had moved to the opposite side of the net, to take a 1-0 lead.

Mt. SAC added three more goals in the second half, with two coming from the state championship's Most Valuable Player --Fuentes. Javier Castro fed the ball to Fuentes on a diagonal in the 53rd minute, giving Mt. SAC a 2-0 lead. 

The MVP scored his final goal in the 70th minute. After a series of rebounds, Fuentes kicked a bullet to the back of the net, upping the Mounties lead to 3-0. 

Things started to get sloppy in the game in the 72nd minute when the Cougars got a string of red cards. The first one was given to Jesus Salazar. The second came a few minutes later in the 76th minute against Victor Rodriguez . 

With the Cougars down two men, Mt. SAC scored its final goal of the day in the 77th minute. Javier Castro received a pass from Michael Dominguez who lobbed the ball over Burkevics' head for the fourth goal. 

COC would receive one more red card in the game when Jose Reyes fouled a Mt. SAC player.

Mt. SAC outshot the Cougars 24-7 and held a 9-5 advantage on corner kicks. 

Burkevics played the entire game for Canyons and had seven saves. Alfredo Ontiveros played 87 minutes in goal for the Mounties and tallied three saves. Roger Flores played three minutes and tallied one save. 

The Cougars, who made their first appearance in the state championship game, complete their season with a 17-6-2 and end their 11-game winstreak. The Mounties finish the year with a 19-1-4 record.