The College of DuPage men’s soccer team fell to Rock Valley in a 5-3 loss after battling through heavy rain and allowing the Golden Eagles to score three unanswered second half goals.
“It’s disappointing. It [Rock Valley] is a respectable team to lose to, and I don’t believe we played our best in terms of executing,” said head men’s soccer coach Zac Ludwig. “We just didn’t execute consistently enough and came up short.”
Rock Valley set the tone early, attacking the Chaparrals’ defensive back-line at a rapid pace. The Golden Eagles scored only four minutes into the first half from a counter attack to give RVC a 1-0 lead.
Shortly after, COD sophomore Joseph Muana scored from a corner kick attempt after getting a shot off in the penalty box only five minutes after Rock Valley had scored to tie the game at 1-1.
“I feel amazing, [after scoring] my first ever goal for COD,” said Muana. “I was happy to score my first goal for COD, and it’s my second year. There were a lot of mistakes in the back, and the [weather] condition was not helping since the ball would skid everywhere.”
With 3:25 left in the first half, Rock Valley found the back of the net to set themselves up with a 2-1 advantage going into the second half.
Seven minutes into the second half, freshman Omar Quintana scored a goal from outside of the box off of an error from Rock Valley’s goalkeeper after the ball slipped out of his hands and rolled past the goal line to make the game 2-2.
Later in the second half, the Chaparrals struggled to keep the ball downfield, which resulted in Rock Valley scoring three unanswered goals to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable 5-2 lead over COD.
With 16:14 left in the match, freshman Julio Blanco scored a goal off of a corner kick to make the score 5-3.
“This game was difficult for the whole team,” said Blanco. “This team is one of the best teams out there. We always try to win, compete and do our best.”
The Chaparrals will take on Kishwaukee College with a record of 5-4-2 at 3 p.m. on Oct. 18 in Malta, Ill.
