'A hard battle'

Men's soccer head coach Benny Artiaga called this game one of the best he had ever seen on any level and even though I haven't seen that many soccer games in my lifetime, I'll have to agree with him.

I was there to witness Tuesday's 5-4 win over Mt. SAC. It was definitely a thriller with the Mounties scoring two goals in the first half. The Falcons were down 3-1 at halftime.

One of the things that team members were saying was that they were cool under the pressure of facing a potential loss. No one was discouraging the teammates, even after crucial mistakes were made, like missed goals and penalty kicks or goals that sailed through.

"We had every reason to fold. We had every reason to hand the game to Mt. SAC," Artiaga told the team after the win. "But this win is a true test of what this team can do. There's nothing that we can't overcome."

Forward Luis Gonzalez was the spark plug needed to rally the team. He scored the last three goals.

His foot must have been like a cannon, because he was able to kick with so much power. The ball just sailed through the net when he kicked those goals. The game proved why he leads the team in scoring.

"It was a hard battle. All of our teammates left everything on the field," Gonzalez said. "Even though we were down, we knew the game wasn't over. At halftime in the huddle, We were all confident . We did what the coaches told us to do and we came out with the win."

He threw the team in for a slight worry, because he went down twice in the game. The first time he was hit pretty hard. He was able to walk to the sideline and walk it off in order to stay in the game. The second time he went down he said that he caught a cramp.

Stephan Mongu would have made the score 6-4, after faking out a couple of players and moving the goalie, he had a clear shot at the goal. But one of the field players went into the goal and blocked it with his head.

I'm glad I was able to attend this game, which was a pivital point for the men's team this season.