Skyline College men’s soccer loses two straight after starting year with 8 straight wins

“I wasn’t very happy with, No. 1, we gave up three goals in extra time,” Saucedo said. “And I also figured it wasn’t very fair to our team to play so much extra time. … I just don’t know where the extra time came from. I was in shock.”

Skyline then fell Wednesday at home to Foothill College 2-1. After taking a lead into the half, Foothill scored two goals in the opening minutes of the second half.

An injury to Skyline center back Jiovanni Rico Contreras has loomed large. The freshman out of Half Moon Bay suffered a knee injury Sept. 20 in the Trojans’ 3-1 win at Folsom Lake. His absence has shaken up the back row defense, one of the outbreak of injuries in the Trojans’ ranks.

“He’s a really good defender and gets around the field really well,” Saucedo said. “So, we definitely missed him.”

Skyline is also without midfielder Adan Moreno Valencia, who exited the City game with an injury. Sophomore forward Adrian Zimmerman, one of just two projected sophomore starters at the beginning of the season, has missed most of the season with a groin injury.

“We’re banged up right now, the last couple games,” Saucedo said. “We’ve had some injuries to some starters so we’re trying to figure out what to do.”

Saucedo’s complaint about the length of stoppage time in the loss to City was just one of his grievances with the referees. Another big one was the play to set up the Rams’ game-tying goal in the 95th minute.

Skyline jumped out 1-0 on a score from Jacob Hartmann on a corner kick by Edgar Munoz. Dan Lulseged then scored in the 84th minute to give the Trojans some breathing room. City’s Georgi Stoyanov answered back in the 91st minute off a free kick. Then, in the 95th, Stoyanov tied it on a penalty kick, gained a contact foul Saucedo said wasn’t only questionable, it was non-existent.

“I just think [the City player] reached to kick the ball and he fell over, and I think the referee got it wrong,” Saucedo said.

Sergio Laguna delivered the game-winner for the Rams in the 97th minute.

“Yeah, we had the lead at 2-0 against City College at the 90th minute,” Saucedo said. “So, I would say we played well for most of that game.”

The Trojans — now in a tough spot with a 1-2 record in Coast Conference North — need to solve their defensive woes. Ayo Pigott has taken over at center back but the chemistry is a work in progress.

“It takes time to get the back line in order,” Saucedo said. “We’ll be fine ... but guys need to step up.”

Skyline has outscored opponents 32-10 this season, highlighting the attacking side, fronted by Lulseged and Alexis Villanueva Zavala, who lead the team with five goals apiece. Valencia leads in overall points with 14, totaling four goals and six assists.

“We have a really good attacking side and we’re starting to defend a lot better,” Saucedo said. “It’s just the injuries are starting to hurt us.”

The losses to City and Foothill also hurt in the sense these are the teams with the two best records of any teams Skyline has faced this season. Of the teams the Trojans rolled over in non-conference play, the only one currently with an above .500 record is Mendocino with a 6-4 mark.

Saucedo highlighted the Sept. 20 win at Folsom Lake, a 2021 powerhouse that finished ranked No. 3 in the state last season with a 13-3-5 overall record and a Big 8 Conference championships. This year, Folsom Lake is off to a 3-5-3 start.

“Playing there is real tough,” Saucedo said. “Taking that two-plus hour trip there, and they don’t lose that much there, if at all. We were playing really well at that point and the injuries started piling up.”