Pasadena City Submits To El Camino, 2-0

David O'Connor, Courier Reporter

The Lancers' men's soccer team dropped its first conference game Tuesday, losing 2-0 to El Camino College in a disappointing display at Robinson Stadium.

PCC allowed the Warriors to control possession early on due to several poor passes that led to costly turnovers. Goalkeeper Alan Lopez tried to lift his fellow defenders with some motivating words, but this couldn't prevent ECC's crisp strike that put the visitors up 1-0 in the 15^th minute.

The Lancers lacked penetration and intensity, which made them look like a shell of the team that defeated No.5 ranked Mt. Sac on Friday. Pasadena's Head coach Edgar Manvelyan couldn't hide his disappointment about his side's lackluster effort.

"It was a horrible game, disaster, embarrassing," Manvelyan said. "This was probably one of the worst games I've seen us play at home. The mentality was not there, a lot of mistakes, no press, no passing, no intensity, just going through the motions and a team like El Camino who is very organized and direct, hurt us."

The Warriors maintained their dominance up until half time, with several more threatening shots that were saved by Lopez.

PCC's only scoring opportunities in the first half came in the 29^th and 42^nd minutes due to tidy work by freshman Brandon Gerlach and sophomore George Barba. Gerlach headed a corner kick into the clutches of the Warriors' goalie and Barba struck a lethal left footed shot, but the keeper dived to his right and kept the score 1-0 at the break.

Fifteen minutes from the final siren, ECC went up 2-0 with a 28-yard left strike. The margin could have been greater if it wasn't for Lopez. He replicated his first half form with a few more eye-catching saves.

El Camino is the South Coast Division's leading goal scorer and they gave the home team a lesson in running a fluid offense. The Warriors outpaced the Lancers through the midfield and outmuscled Pasadena in one-on-one situations.

The Lancers' co-captains, Victor Manchaca and Barba, blamed a lack of focus and cohesiveness for the team's inept performance.

"I think we were just sleeping the whole day, honestly we didn't have focus," Barba said.

"Our heads weren't there. We actually lost motivation on the first goal and overall, the team wasn't in sync today," Manchaca added.

The Lancers next face LA Harbor College in an away game on Friday at 4 p.m.

 http://www.pcccourier.com/2014/10/08/mens-soccer-submit-to-el-camino-2-0/