Rojas Late Goal Earns PCC Tie At Glendale

Osmar Rojas scored with four minutes left to give the Pasadena City College men's soccer team a 2-2 tie at Glendale Tuesday night. Rojas took a cross by Jorge Cedillo, then turned and fired a 15-yard blast into the left corner of the net.

PCC moves to 2-2-1, snapping a 2-game losing streak and ended the Vaqueros' 4-match win string (now 4-0-1). Glendale is the region's #10 squad in current power points standings. The Lancers are currently #21.

Emiliano Escobar scored the Lancers other goal as he dribbled a ball into Glendale territory in the 29th minute, driving a 22-yard shot into the upper left corner that tied the game at that point, 1-1. 

Goalie Gabriel Ponce came up big in the 17th minute as he made back-to-back saves, stopping Derik Stepanians on a penalty kick and quick rebound. Stepanians scored just a few minutes later to give Glendale a 1-0 lead. The Vaqueros went ahead again at 2-1 on a goal by Matteo Grasso in the 57th minute.

"We played a very good Glendale team that found itself ahead of us twice, but our guys played good enough to tie this game," said PCC head coach Francisco Cantero. "We had multiple chances to score, but just could not get the end result we wanted."

PCC has run into some strong goalie performances by opponents, including this one as Glendale goalie Tigran Malumyan made nine saves. 

On Sept. 5, the visiting Lancers were on the wrong side of history as Saddleback, a new program, won its first-ever men's soccer contest, 1-0. The Bobcats scored in the mythical "extra time" post-90-minute mark on a goal by Joel Smith. Matthew Gilmore played well in goal for PCC with eight saves. 

On Sept. 1 at Robinson Stadium, region #8 Southwestern downed PCC, 2-1, on a Roberto Hernandez goal in the 71st minute. Cedillo had tied the game seven minutes earlier, scoring on a rebound off an initial drive by Rojas.

The Lancers outshot the Jaguars, 23-13, but Southwestern goalie Giovanny Gutierrez put on a clinic with 11 saves. In the 90th minute, he stoned Angel Nolasco on back-to-back shots in the box to prevent a PCC tie.

Pasadena next hosts Orange Coast on Friday, Sept. 13 in a 4 p.m. non-conference contest.