Mustangs Forced to Play with 10 in Loss to Oxy

Despite a Prince Chingancheke goal in the first 1:30 of the game, The Master's men's soccer team lost to the visiting Occidental Tigers Wednesday 2-1 on another hot day in Santa Clarita.
 
The turning point of the match came in the 26^th minute when one of the Mustangs key defenders was given a second yellow card, resulting in an automatic ejection. From that moment on TMU was playing a man down.

The play itself resulted in a penalty kick for Occidental. Adrian Paredes lined up against Mustang goalkeeper Kian Bensend, and when Paredes drove his ball to the lower left of the goal, Bensend was there with a diving save to knock the ball away and preserve the 1-0 lead.
 
"Obviously I hate losing," said Head Coach Jim Rickard. "We've been struggling with pressure and speed of play, some bite, passion and fight, but we definitely had that today. That was good. But you can't be short a man for 65 minutes."
 
It started as well as any Mustangs fan could hope. Aiden Rohde fed the ball to a streaking Giorgio Martino down the left said. The senior from Italy then led a perfect pass to the feet of Chingancheke at the top of the box where he fired a low shot past the diving Tigers goalkeeper for the score.
 
Then in the 36^th minute, the Tigers tied it when Jake Foster nudged a ball between the legs of Bensend that trickled across the line. The game-winner came in the 83^rd minute when a wide-open Joseph Schwartz took a cross from Ryusei Kent and popped the ball into the back of the net.
 
"Being a man down for 65 minutes, with the heat, they should win," Rickard said. "I thought we did really well for being down a man. We put some nice passes together and we gave ourselves every opportunity to be in that game."
 
"We are still following a process and getting better," Rickard continued. "There was bonding today, some quality play, and the team showed me some things today that they have belief. I was really proud of the effort and that's all I can ask for. They gave it all."
 
The Mustangs will be back in action this Friday at home on Reese Field against the Benedictine (Mesa) Redhawks. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.