Hartnell soccer picks up shutout after two road ties
The Panthers had their 1-0 lead. This time, they didn't let it go.
The Hartnell College men's soccer team ended a two-game winless streak by defeating West Valley 1-0 on its own grassy field Tuesday afternoon.
The win was Hartnell's first in more than a week as they improved to 8-1-2 overall and 1-0-2 in conference. Although the winless streak is done, their unbeaten streak increased to six games.
Hartnell picked up the goal in the 31st minute.
Brandon Hernandez streaked down the right sideline with a West Valley defender cloaked on him. Before he got to the corner, he fired the ball into the goalkeeper's box. There were two Hartnell players and one West Valley defender there. Jose Mendoza was alone as he decided the ball, set himself and kicked the ball in to give Hartnell a 1-0 lead.
"It was a team effort," Mendoza said.
Hernandez nearly added to the lead a minute later. He received a pass from the right edge of the goalkeeper's box and headed the ball. The ball sailed above the crossbar.
In the 37th minute, Hernandez shook off two West Valley defenders and got the ball to Santiago Morales, who fired a shot on goal that was about a foot high.
Hartnell had seven corner kicks in the first half compared to West Valley's zero.
The Panthers also had a penalty kick opportunity. That came in the 24th minute when a West Valley player was called for a foul in the box. The freebie went wide left.
Hartnell's first shot on goal came in the 14th minute after it received its third corner kick. Alex Cibrian sent the ball to Hernandez from about 20 yards away. The West Valley defense collectively made the save.
Hartnell's defense did just enough to prevent West Valley from getting the equalizer.
West Valley lost a player in the 55th minute to a second yellow card, leaving the visitors down a man on the field.
But they still truied to gets through Hartnell's defensive wall.
They nearly did in the 74th minute.
Two Hartnell players were in the box watching over one West Valley player. But the West Valley player broke free as the ball floated to the left side of the box. His header was wide left, less than a foot from going in.
That ended up being West Valley's best opportunity of the afternoon.
Hartnell added to its shot-on-goal tally a couple of times after that close call.
In the 81st minute, a Hartnell lead pass looked to go straight to the West Valley goalkeeper, but Hernandez broke up the collection and got the ball. His shot on goal hit the left side of the net.
Three minutes later, Julio Varela-Serriento was near parallel with the West Valley goal. He sent the ball back to Santiago Morales, who ducked and let the ball go to Chris Marinez. Marinez's shot was high.
Mendoza said the team was more anxious than nervous after the two ties.
"That got us upset," he said. "We knew we couldn't tie anymore."
Hartnell returns to action Friday at home against Skyline before welcoming MPC in a
Glenn Cravens, gcravens@thecalifornian.com
