The No. 8 Cypress College men's soccer team (7-0-1) closed out their non-conference schedule with a victory over the Southwestern Jaguars (2-7-1), 1-0.
Play was even through the first half. Each team had very close looks early on to set the competitive stage for the match. Shots for the Chargers came from Nomar Ibarra, Connor Fitzgerald, Ernesto Barajas and Sahand Amirjalali. Fitzgerald's attempt was worthy of a clutch defensive save by the Jaguars, along with a close header by Amirjalali just missing the goal post wide.
In the second half, the Chargers were able to find the back of the net with what would end up being the game winning goal. Cypress marched the ball down field to earn a corner kick taken by Ibarra. After fighting hard to get around the Jaguars' goalkeeper, Jonathan Ledon, the Chargers shot looked promising when Southwestern defender, Angel Ricardo Patino, comes diving in with a punching save the goal for his team, resulting in a red card, granting Cypress with a penalty kick. Ibarra took a successful penalty kick against Ledon for his third goal on the season.
The remainder of the match was physical with a strong defensive performance and the Chargers were able to close it out with a 1-0 victory.
The men's soccer team will kick off conference play at home against Orange Coast next Friday, October 4th, beginning at 3:00pm.