PCC in Playoffs, God on Their Side

PCC will play against Cerritos College to get a spot in the Final Four in the California's Community College Soccer Playoffs, after defeating L.A. Harbor, 4-2. (Picture from the beginning of the season taken by Richard Quinton)


Under the heavy rain, PCC defeated L.A. Harbor, 4-2 in overtime, Tuesday, for the second round of the Southern California Playoffs.
The game was played at East Los Angeles College.
Even though god got nothing to do with the rain, the luck was on PCC's side during the course of the game.
Robert Lewis, PCC Sports Information director, has the story.

PCC Has Bye for First Round of Playoffs; Maradona Era Begins Today

PCC men's soccer team will have a bye for the first round of the Souther California playoffs. PCC will have to wait until next Tuesday to play whoever is the winner of the match between L.A. Harbor College and Oxnard College (the game will be this Saturday). PCC's next game will be played at Glendale High School and not at PCC's home stadium because the soccer field does not meet the COA rules for playoffs.
As of now, the team has been given priority to the physical fitness as they have been running for two straight days without practicing with the ball.
PCC Coaches are trying to work on the physical shape of key players such as Edward Orellana, Abbas Said (pictured in right), and James Hernandez. Cherif Zein, team's head coach, has said that "[their] presence on the field will be important."
At one point, Zein should start working with the players' mental game...because it's been very mediocre in the past games. PCC has not played with the winning mentality and they have been depending on long-throw-ins too much.
In order to be champions, PCC will need to show that they can play football, we'll see what happens.

Today will be Maradona's debut as of the Argentina's soccer head coach against Scotland. (Photo Courtesy of Ole)

In other note, Argentina will play against Scotland today for a FIFA day. Expectations are flying high in Argentina as this will be Maradona's first game as the head coach. He has already decided that the first 11 will be: Juan Pablo Carrizo; Javier Zanetti, Martin Demichelis, Gabriel Heinze, Emiliano Papa (a surprise); Maxi Rodriguez, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Gago, Jonas Gutierrez; Carlos Tevez and Ezequiel Lavezzi, who will replace Maradona's son-in-low's (Sergio "Kun" Aguero) position. Aguero had to leave the team yesterday as his wife/Maradona's daughter had complications with her pregnancy.
Lo mejor para el Diego.

PCC Loses, Cerritos Champs!

Jorge Sainz, right with yellow jersey, was the only one that performed at his best on PCC's 2-0 loss against L.A. Harbor College. (Photo Courtesy by Richard Quinton)

Cerritos College men's soccer team clinched the South Coast Conference title after defeating Long Beach City College, 4-0.
Pasadena City College could have done so, if they would have beaten Los Angeles Harbor College.
Yet, it never happened.
PCC played with no huevos, and lost 2-0.
Harbor dominated the game from the first minute as they controlled the possession of the ball and showed a winning attitude.
PCC did not have any of those qualities to win the game and they suffered.
Lancers' goalkeeper Jorge Sainz was the only one in the team who had a great performance despite of the loss. Sainz made save after save, yet his defense did not help him.
Now, the Lancers' future for the playoff is still uncertain. If they maintain their standing within the top three they will have a bye for the playoffs, but ccsoccernews hasn't updated the website.
Es una pena que hayan perdido, but as I said to the players there is nothing else that you can do but to start thinking on the playoffs.
On a good note, the PCC women's soccer team say good-bye to its sophomores with a win. PCC defeated Harbor, 2-0. And with this win they closed their 2008 season with a 10-8-1 overall record, 5-6-1 in the season.

PCC Recupperates First Spot After Mt. SAC's Loss

PCC men's soccer will need one more victory to be the SCC champs after three years of title-drought. (Photo Courtesy by Richard Quinton)

Pasadena City College men's soccer team is now back on track for the South Coast Conference title as Cerritos College defeated Mt. SAC, 5-4, today, at the Mounties' home.

The Falcons' victory was important for the Lancers as they defeated El Camino College, 6-0.

With one game left to play, both Cerritos and PCC share the first spot in the SCC with 28 points, while Mt. SAC has 26 points.

If Cerritos defeats Long Beach City College, and PCC beats L.A. Harbor College, they will be co-champs for the SCC title.

Yet, nada esta dicho.

Without any doubt, the SCC, what once PCC's Head Coach Cherif Zein called "the most competitive conference in the nation", is on fire.

In other note, PCC's forward Melissa Fudge reached the mark of 18 goals after putting two in the net today against El Camino. Fudge's goals allowed PCC to win the game, 2-0, and improve the season's record to 9-8-1 in the season, 4-6-1 in the SCC.

The women's soccer team does not have the chance to make the playoffs, but still plays showing a soccer bonito.

Decisive Game For PCC Tomorrow; Two Chivas, Two Different Paths

PCC men's soccer team will have a critical game tomorrow against Cerritos College. It will be a todo o a nada.
It is simple.
PCC has to win tomorrow to stretch the difference between them and Cerritos to six points and await for the result between Mt. SAC and East L.A. College.
The win won't only give the Lancers the tranquility of staying in first, but also the confidence to play the next two games to clinch the South Coast Conference title.
PCC comes from tying against ELAC at home, and we'll see if the Lancers are ready to get back in the winning path.
PCC won't count with stopper Albrik Tahmasian (pictured in the right - photo courtesy by Richard Quinton) after receiving a red card on Tuesday. His spot will most likely to be covered by Dario Orozco.
Polly Nader, PCC Courier Staff Writer has the story of PCC tying ELAC here.
PCC will be playing against the Falcons tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Cerritos. The PCC women's soccer team will be playing at 1 p.m.

Chivas obtuvo un empate frente al conjunto argentino y ahora tendrá que enfrentarse contra el Inter de Brasil. (cortesía de Cariverplate.com.ar)

As of the Chivas-es, the one from Guadalajara is in the next round of the playoffs while the Angeleno one is ready for the second leg against Real Salt Lake.
The Mexican Chivas got the ticket for the next round as they tied Argentina's River Plate 2-2 at Jalisco. The aggregated score was 4-3 for the Rebaño Sagrado.
The one from U.S. is looking forward to playing their best against RSL. Chivas USA will need to win at least 2-0 to go straight into the next round or in case the win by one goal, they will be going to penalty shutout.
Veremos que pasa.

PCC Receives ELAC Tomorrow; and Movsisyan Is In Love With The Net

Jose Cortez and James Hernandez (#18) will try to shut out ELAC on Tuesday at PCC. (Photo Courtesy by Richard Quinton)

Both Pasadena City College men's and women's soccer teams will be hosting East Los Angeles College tomorrow.
The women's team will try to get another win to start rounding up the season at least with a .500 or above record. PCC will probably get the win, but to do so, they will need to have Brianna Carlos and Molly Pink anchoring the defense, have a Carolina Rangel, Sheima Berenji, and Alexa Weigand encendidas, and last but not least they will need to have Melissa Fudge ready to take advantage of any scoring chance.
The men's team will look for another win to prevail in the first spot in the South Coast Conference. The possible first eleven for tomorrow will be: Jorge Sainz; Bryant Castillo, Malcolm Linton, Albrik Tahmasia, Dante Bruno-Lopez; Jose Cortez, James Hernandez, Abbas Said, Ando Ghevadyan; Gabriel Chavarria and Gilbert Pogosyan.
ELAC won't be easy since they are physically fit to play in the tiny field that PCC has. Plus, ELAC comes pumped up from their previous game, as they gathered their first victory in the season against El Camino College.
We'll see what's gonna happen.
Meanwhile, it is more likely that PCC has already make the playoffs, but Rio Hondo College has been the first team in this season in qualifying to the playoffs as they already clinched the Foothill Conference title with two more games to play. Congrats to the Road Runners.
In another note, former PCC player, Yura Movsisyan, scored again to give Real Salt Lake the partial victory, 1-0, against Chivas USA. His goal came in the 90th minute (he scored in the previous game as well at the same time to give RSL the pass to the playoffs) with his back heel off a pass from Argentina playmaker Javier Morales.
Now, Movsisyan and RSL will play the second leg this upcoming Saturday at the Home Depot Center.

PCC Still in First, Mt. SAC Pulls a Win Out, and the League is more exciting than ever

PCC's defender Malcolm Linton gathered his 14 assists during the Lancers' 4-2 victory over Compton. Linton set a new school record on Friday. (Photo Courtesy by Richard Quinton)

PCC men's soccer team maintains the first spot in the South Coast Conference, after defeating Compton College, 4-2, Friday at home.
Once again, James Hernandez pulled his goleador costume out, and scored two goals against an inexperienced keeper who went into his goal to get the ball four times.
Albrik Tahmasian and Jose "Gatusso" Cortez scored the other two for the win.
PCC's head coach Cherif Zein played all the roster as the game was sentenced in the 65th minute when Cortez scored. Compton would cut the difference to two, but there was nothing else that could be done.
PCC dominated and, at times, the team played like a truly champ. PCC showed good soccer with good passes, possession and effectiveness.
Also, in another good note, Malcolm Linton gathered his 14 assists in the season, breaking the school record of 12, set in 2001.
Besides assisting his teammates with his long throw-ins and free-kicks, Linton has been a true leader in the team as he managed and anchored the defense pretty well. Linton demostrated that the captain band no le queda grande.
In other games, Mt. SAC pulled a valuable win against Long Beach CC, 3-2. The win allows the Mounties to keep on chasing the Lancers as they are two points behind them.
As of LBCC, the team has to start saying good bye to it's chances of winning the SCC since they are seven points behind.
And last but not least, Cerritos College lost to Harbor, 3-2, and now Cerritos is five points behind the Lancers.
Damn, this conference is going crazy.
Whenever you get a chance, go and watch it!