Wolves Drop Home Opener To Lake County

The JJC Men’s Soccer team began their 2016 home schedule on Monday, Aug. 29. The Wolves dropped their home opener to the College of Lake County Lancers 3-2 in overtime.

The game was hindered by an almost 45 minute weather delay. When the teams did return the field was sloppy, and rain continued to hamper the game. Before the rain, though, the Wolves were on the attack.

The Wolves got on the board early, tallying the first two goals of the game. Successful attacks by freshmen Rocco Del Real and Stephen Saah gave the Wolves a seemingly comfortable lead.

The Wolves spent the remainder of the first half on the Lancers side of the field. The second half was a different story, as the Wolves would squander the two goal lead they built.

Focusing on defense and maintaining their lead, they did manage to hold the lead late into the game. After allowing a goal early in the second half, the Wolves began to press harder.

With merely minutes to go, a seemingly harmless shot skipped across the wet grass and just past the Wolves goalkeeper Abraham Huichapa. This tied the game, and stunned the home crowd.

The game would remain tied at the final whistle and go into overtime, where the two teams were constantly on the offensive. It was the Lancers that would net the first goal in the sudden-death period, dropping the Wolves to 0-2 on the season.

However, the Wolves are a very young team with the majority of the team’s roster being comprised of freshman. After the game, the Wolves head coach Cristobal Trillo talked about coaching such a young team.

“We are starting off as a very inexperienced team, for most of them it’s a huge step up going to college compared to high school,” Trillo said. “My goal is to really give them the self confidence that they can play at this level.” Then Trillo talked about improving with each game

“I definitely think it’s going to be a work in progress. It usually takes about a month to put the pieces together and start clicking.”

The Wolves will look to get their first win this Wednesday, Aug. 31 when they take on Milwaukee Area Tech. The game on Wednesday will be there first of five straight games on the road. The Wolves return home on Friday, Sept. 16.