Wild Conference Opener Ends in 3-3 Draw

COC Can't Hang on to Late 3-2 Lead

Wild Conference Opener Ends in 3-3 Draw
Photos Box Score

Team Stats

September 17, 2014

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – A wild final 20 minutes of the Western State Conference (WSC) opener saw three late goals as College of the Canyons and Santa Monica College ended up with a 3-3 draw on Tuesday afternoon.

Santa Monica College entered the score sheet first on defender Ali Jridi's sixth goal of the season, giving SMC a 1-0 lead.
COC answered soon after on an unassisted Oscar Sanchez goal in the 19th minute. Sanchez's fifth goal tied the game at 1-1, where it remained going into halftime.

The Cougars outshot Santa Monica 6 to 4 in the first half. Canyons goalkeeper Steven Rodriguez tallied two saves in the first half.

The second half scoring started just after five minutes when the referee awarded a penalty kick for the Cougars. Forward Jesus Pescador netted his sixth goal of the season in the 50th minute putting the Cougars up 2-1.

Then, things got wild.

In the 73rd minute Santa Monica's James Rincon found the net to tie the game at 2-2.

Five minutes later, in the 78th minute, Cougars forward Giancarlo Gamboa registered his seventh goal of the season putting COC up 3-2 with just a little more than 10 minutes to go in the match.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Santa Monica's Tristan Knudsen netted the equalizer two minutes later. The score was tied at 3-3 with 10 minutes remaining.
COC managed one final chance in the closing seconds of the match. Jesus Pescador's final shot beat Corsairs goalkeeper Weston Adkins, but couldn't quite beat the crossbar – the goalkeeper's best friend. The referee blew the whistle and the Cougars just missed out on the sure winner in the 90th minute.
The draw drops COC's overall record to 2-1-2 (0-0-1 in conference play).
COC will next travel to Glendale Community College at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19.