Tri-C vs. Marian Ancella
BY GREG SPITZUG
The Tri-C Triceratops fell to the Marian Ancella Chargers at their own home on Saturday 3-0 in a Men’s Soccer match. It was a much closer game than the score would indicate. A missed opportunity in a tough 1st half and another early in the 2nd half for Tri-C, which led to their demise in the 2nd half.
It’s been a rough go for the Triceratops in their first year back after they did not field a team because of the Covid pandemic during the 2020-2021 seasons. Starting from scratch and being competitive is not an easy thing to do. That’s what the Triceratops were able to do on Saturday.
The Triceratops were unable to take advantage of a tripping penalty that gave them a penalty kick with 18:33 left in the 1st half. Midfielder Aldair Cardenas-Villamizar was awarded the penalty kick and made an attempt at the right corner of the goal, but Goalkeeper David Barraso was able to knock it away. With the score still 0-0 with 38:34 left in the 2nd half, Forward Stephen Simpson was able to break away from the Chargers defense and gave himself at a 1 on 1 chance with Goalkeeper David Barraso. With some fancy footwork, Simpson maneuvered past Barraso and shot wide right with his left foot on a wide-open net.
The Chargers were able to take advantage of the Triceratops miscues. With 27:34 left in the game, Striker Bryce Taberski was able to receive a pass over the middle which resulted in a left footed smash into the back of the goal to give the Chargers a 1-0 lead. Less than a minute later the Chargers were able to strike again. Corner Back Damien Vargas was able to head a corner kick and placed it perfectly into the top of the net. Another 30 seconds later, Striker Carlos Castaneda was able to wrangle the ball from 3 defenders and nail a left footed bullet into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish.
“We gave it away!” Tri-C Head Coach Devan Anderson said. “We missed a PK and a wide-open goal. It’s hard to come back from those.”
Not having any second-year players can be tough on a team trying to start again. They were able to stay competitive and play a sound game.
