Palomar men’s soccer came through in the clutch against the El Camino College Compton Center Tartars after a slow 0-2-2 start.
Palomar won the game 3-2, scoring a goal in the beginning, middle and end of the second half, which made up for a slow first half where the Comets did not score a single goal.
Palomar’s sophomore forward Argie Cerde, scored the game-winning goal in the last two minutes of the game.
“It felt amazing,” said Cerde. “It’s an indescribable feeling toward the end of the game. It’s crazy. It’s how we do it.”
Cerde doesn’t believe that he will come into a game as the hero like he did, saying he’s just playing for the team and trying to bring a W each time they go out just like his teammates are.
Cerde also thinks this win will help the Comets gain momentum for the rest of the season saying that it is going to help Palomar after a slow start.
At the end of the game, Cerde finished with a solid two shots on the goal with one of those shots scoring, and with one assist to add to that.
Palomar’s second-year, head coach, Dave Whiddon, said his 2016 roster is blessed with depth, consisting of 17-18 athletes who could play as starters.
Whiddon played 8-9 substitutions, which added up to 19 or 20 athletes who received playing time in the game.
Whiddon added that his athletes really stepped it up and played exceptional defense and that it was the whole team who played outstanding, not only the back four of field.
Whiddon was proud of what his athletes accomplished in the second half and explained what caused his athletes to make that comeback.
“Self belief,” said Whiddon. “They believe in themselves. And that’s the key to success in any team sport. I believe it’s having that belief that you can be successful.”
A key player in the game was sophomore middle fielder, Elijah Lopez, who scored the first goal of the game which started that second half rally.
“I think it was good,” said Lopez. “We played strong in the first half. Then in the second half we noticed we were down 2-0, and we knew that we had to bring it back. So we got one in the beginning of the half, one in the middle, and the last minute we scored the winner. So I think we did good. The team brought it all together.”
Whiddon shows a lot of confidence in Lopez saying, “Elijah is a consistently high performer. So this was the performance we expect from him and he delivered.”
Lopez said the outcome of the game made him feel good and made him feel that he can rely on his team to score and put the opposing team away.
Lopez finished the game with two shots on the goal with one of those shots scoring the first goal of the game for Palomar, and one assist to add on to his already great season where he is in the top 50 in the state for goals.
