Story and Photo by Marcus Tolero
The Rams are back on top of the Coast-North Conference.
The City College of San Francisco Men’s Soccer Team won the conference title last Tuesday at CCSF with a 3-1 win over West Valley College. This is the program’s eighth conference title and fourth in the last six years.
“This conference championship is special because it’s happening to a good group of kids. They have been great to work with. They have worked hard and they have been very coachable. And I think they are peaking at the right time,” Head Coach Adam Lucarelli said.
The Rams put a score on the board early in the match when Sophomore Jonathan Hernandez scored an unassisted goal in the 9th minute. West Valley responded with a goal in the 25th minute to tie up the score 1-1. The game remained tied through the first half due in large part to a defensive backline led by Freshmen Jamal Bernardez and Chris Finlez, both of whom thwarted West Valley’s attacks.
The tiebreaker occurred at the 48th minute when sophomore midfielder Christian Carranza found freshman forward Tobi Oladapo for the go-ahead goal. The Rams then padded their lead in the 79th minute when sophomore midfielder Gian Marco Zancanaro scored on a penalty kick that pushed their lead to 3-1.
The win was especially meaningful to the sophomores on the team, all of whom experienced the doldrums of a non-playoff appearance just 12 months ago.
“I’m happy for the sophomores. They kind of suffered through a team that underachieved last year. I think to do a 180-turnaround to be conference champs and go to the playoffs – I’m happy for them. Now we will push forward and see what happens in the playoffs,” Lucarelli said.