Late Goal Stops Canyons in 1-0 Loss to Chaffey

By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information 

College of the Canyons fell to visiting Chaffey College on Tuesday evening with a last-minute goal finalizing a 1-0 result.

Canyons (2-6-2) worked for six total shots on the night and Chaffey (4-6-2) recorded 13, with the majority of those coming in the second half. 

COC freshman Mario Velasquez started in goal for the Cougars and went untested in his 45 minutes. Back-and-forth play ensued for a majority of the first half with neither team commanding anything very threatening. 

In the second half Canyons looked to freshman goalkeeper Hunter Maiden to take over the goal-tending duties, a move which was met with a rise in Panther activity. 

From the 70th minute forward Chaffey peppered the net with several quality opportunities.

Maiden (1-4-1) got his hands on a header redirection to keep the game 0-0 in the 87th minute. However, the Panthers continued to press and ultimately snuck one past the Cougars in the final minute of play. 

COC center-back Vegas Roberts worked in the game defensively and offensively, recording a shot block and working forward to command a shot of his own and create one of the Cougars' few drives to net.

Five other Cougars got a look at Chaffey's goal, including Gage Fritz, Diego Briseno, Christian Lanzas-Castillo, Leon Mikailian and Cristopher Chavez. Unfortunately, Canyons couldn't quite culminate one of its own, leaving the score at 1-0 in the Chaffey win.

Canyons remains on its home pitch for its next two matches starting on Friday, Oct. 4 against the College of the Desert for a 6 p.m. kickoff. The following match on Tuesday, Oct. 8 will kick-off Western State Conference, South Division play, hosting Antelope Valley College for another 6 p.m. start time. 

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Photo by Carla Sophia Velasco/COC Sports Information