JC Soccer kicked off with Pasadena

By Eric Owens - Founder of ESN Media 

It was still a hot one to start the season for the Pasadena City women’s soccer team as they traveled up North to take on the Renegades of Bakersfield College in a much earlier 11:30 am contest, because the original 4 pm start time was scheduled to be up to 109 degrees.

Pasadena City got on the board in a 60th minute off an assist from sophomore mid-fielder Nadia Aguilar (John Burroughs) whose pass was partially blocked by Gades goalkeeper and freshman forward Emily Martinez (Crescenta Valley) finished it off for the first goal of the year. It did not take long as Alexandra Lopez found the back of the net three minutes later to build a 2-0 lead. Older Lopez sister, Isabella scored the third goal of the match off an assist by freshman mid-fielder Isabella Nersesyan (Burbank). The Lancers outshot the Gades 23-6 with nine shots on goal. 

Pasadena City is coming off an historic season after finishing 19-2-2 overall with a class of 18 sophomores. The Lancers reached the Southern California Regional Finals falling to the Bobcats of Saddleback College 3-0 at home. The Lancers (1-0 overall) will next be in action on Tuesday, August 26th against the host Moorpark College Raiders with kickoff slated for a 1:30pm start.

As for the Pasadena City men, it didn’t take long to score the only goal of their first match of the season, when in the first minute - sophomore forward Julian Zuniga (South Hills) knocked one into the back of the net and walked away with a 1-0 victory at Moorpark. A season ago, the Lancers were 15-9 overall and 7-4 overall in shutouts with their lone 1-0 decision coming on the road in a South Coast Conference upset at 15th ranked Los Angeles City College on October 29th. The Lancers were 18th ranked at that time. The Lancers (1-0) will be on the road for their second straight road game to start the season - as they will be at the Victor Valley College Rams (0-1) on Tuesday, August 26th with kickoff slated for a 4pm start.

The Glendale Community men wrapped up its exhibition schedule on Friday evening on the road at nearby Pierce College with former Vaquero standout and now John Burroughs head coach Mark Martinez roaming the sidelines as an assistant coach with LAPC. Late into the second half with less than two minutes to go and the Vaqueros up 2-1 an altercation broke out between the two sides. Details regarding possible suspensions have not been disclosed heading into tonight’s deadline. Both teams will kickoff their regular season games on Tuesday, August 26th with Pierce heading to Los Angeles City and Glendale heading up to Santa Barbara City with each game starting at 7pm.