The Comets men’s soccer team had a season that could only be described as “rocky”. This can be seen in their overall record of 4-14-2, ending at 3-5-2 at home, and 1-9 away.

But in the last game of the season on Thursday, Nov.9, at home against Merritt College, the team managed to sneak in a victory.

Despite having only 10 players, losing the first match (2-1), and coming in on a nine game losing streak, the Comets seemed to not mind being the underdogs, as they looked more determined than ever to defend their home field one last time.

The game started quickly, as just five minutes in, forward Angel Cervantes scored a goal to make an attempt at setting the tone for the matchup. 

Shortly after, Merritt scored their first goal just seven minutes later, followed by a flashy celebration. However, the Comets’ kept their composure, making it to halftime, keeping the score at 1-1.

Coming back from halftime, the Comets’ seemed tired yet still determined to pull out a win. Both teams went back and forth across the field, with neither scoring a goal for almost the entire second half.

A tie seemed to be inevitable as the game clock and the Comets endurance was running out. However, at the 85-minute mark, left wing Santiago Hernandez scored a goal, assisted by defender Mickey Molina to win the game.

“Fortunately we won in the end, but it’s unfortunate that we had only ten players,” Molina said after the game. “We came in with the process of fixing our problems from the first game – where we weren’t finishing our goals. This game, we ended up scoring two. We did a little bit better and fixed it, but it didn’t come till the second half. We granted two of our sophomores with this dub, and I’m blessed to say that,”

Angel Cervantes also reflected on the last game of the season. 

“I feel like we played our hearts out today. Since last week, we’ve been eyeing them down because of what happened at Merritt,” Cervantes said. “We feel like we owed them something, so we came out today with 10 men and no subs. I owe this win to the team, and we’re still young – mostly freshmen, so next year we’ll have chemistry and have a better season this year,”

The Comets seem no longer worried about what happened on the field this year, as they are looking to put that behind them and focus on what next season may bring.