November 5th, – Quincy, CA – The Feather River College men’s soccer team ended the regular season with a win over the Butte College Road Runners Friday afternoon defeating Butte 3-2. The win Friday makes it four consecutive wins for the Golden Eagles men who ended up with an identical conference record as they had in 2009 going 5-2-1. Unfortunately that one draw was enough to put the FRC men 2 points behind the only team they beat twice in conference play, Lassen College, who ended up winning the conference title. “It is disappointing to not have won the conference championship considering we beat the champions twice, but that is the way sports go, we should have handled our business better in the losses and the draw. Congratulations to Lassen College and Coach Wade, they did what they had to do and deserve the title” said Coach Don Williams. Williams had nothing but praise for his men saying “I have coached at the full professional level in my career and out of all the men’s teams I have coached this team showed the most potential of any of them”.
The scoring opened up in the 8th minute for the Golden Eagles with Garrett Fausett streaking down the right side of the field from his right back position, he took the ball the length of the field and crossed it into the 6 yard box where he found freshman Makenzi Lucas who slotted home his 5th goal of the season. Six minutes later the second goal would come and this one made all who watched it gasp in amazement. Freshman Alex Reyes collected the ball from his left back position and hit what looked like a weak shot to the far post, in reality he had seen his streaking center back Alex Sanchez who sprinted 30 yards onto the ball and at full sprint Sanchez hammered a header that no keeper in the world could have saved. “If I am going to be honest, I was thinking to myself, Reyes that is a terrible ball, why did you play that? Then out of nowhere Sanchez is smashing the ball home with his head. It shows that many times the players see things that we don’t see as coaches, what a brilliant goal that was” said Williams.
The third goal and eventual match winner came when the Butte keeper came out of his box to head the ball away but it fell to sophomore Christian Galindo who simply stayed calm and chipped the helpless Butte keeper. Butte would end up making the match close with one goal late in the first half and a 2nd goal in the second half but FRC would hang tough and win their seventh match of the season.
The season is not over however for the FRC men, they had a bye into the semi-finals of the Golden Valley Conference Cup, and will play College of the Redwoods on Thursday at the Redding Soccer Park in Redding, CA.
October 26, – Quincy, CA – The Feather River College Golden Eagles took revenge on Shasta College Knights Tuesday, when they beat one of only two teams to defeat them in conference play, 4-2. The FRC men have scored 4 goals in each of their last two matches and are preparing to finish conference play November 5th at home against Butte College.
Goal number one came in the 9th minute for the Golden Eagles when sophomore sensation Juan Garcia drove down the right wing and cut the ball back to his left foot. Garcia drove a cross to the far post where Cesar Vasquez rushed on to the ball and headed it home for his second goal of the season. Just one minute later Garcia would provide another assist. This time Garcia found Ismael Reyes who hammered home a shot from 15 yards out to make it 2-0 with only 10 minutes off the clock. At minute 17 it was Vasquez’s turn to play provider when he found Reyes on a beautiful crisp pass to his feet and Reyes did not hesitate to slot the ball home from 22 yards out into the upper right hand corner of the goal. Finally just 12 minutes before the half Garcia was able to strip the ball from a Knights defender and he hit a laser of a shot from almost 30 yards out that dipped and swerved its way into the upper corner of the Knights goal.
The second half of the match saw FRC take its foot off of the gas and as a result Shasta was able to get two consolation goals.
Winning conference and making the state playoffs for the Golden Eagles was a pre-season goal and now they are going to need a little help from College of the Redwoods to make that happen. Tuesday November 2nd Lassen who leads the conference by two points will visit Eureka and if Redwoods can manage a win or a draw and FRC can beat Butte FRC will be crowned conference champions for the second year in a row. “We dug ourselves a bit of a hole on the road against Shasta and Butte earlier in the season by losing to both, now we need a little help from Redwoods against Lassen” Said Coach Don Williams. Williams continued “it will be said if we do not win conference because we swept Lassen in conference play and we know we are the best team in the conference.”
October 22, – Quincy, CA – The Feather River College men’s soccer team passed up College of the Redwoods in the Golden Valley Conference Friday by defeating the Corsair’s by a score of 4-0.
It only took six minutes for the Golden Eagles to get on the scoreboard when freshman winger Alex Reyes crossed the ball from the right flank into the box connecting with fellow freshman Makenzi Lukas who scored his third goal of the season. Fourteen minutes after the first goal Lukas would be brought down in the penalty box and Pedro Salazar would convert the penalty kick for goal number 2. Scoring a goal and creating a second one was good but Lukas was not finished wreaking havoc on the Corsair defense. The combination of Reyes and Lukas would come together again 2 minutes after the Salazar goal on a nearly identical play that resulted in the first goal. Twenty-two minutes gone in the match, Eagles 3 – Corsair’s 0.
The second half would see the Golden Eagles strike once more when Salazar took a free kick from 22 yards out. The ball was fumbled by the Corsair keeper and Jose Martinez was in the right place at the right time to clean up the loose ball for goal number four and his second of the season. Golden Eagles goalkeepers Anthony Wakeford and Jose Felipe would split time between the posts and combined for the shutout.
October 19, – Susanville, CA – The Feather River College men have dug themselves quite a hole knowing that they must win every remaining conference contest in order to stand a chance at representing the Golden Valley Conference at the state tournament. Tuesday they took their first step toward that goal by beating conference leaders Lassen College 2-1.
The match was as hard fought midfield battle with the FRC Golden Eagles gaining a slight advantage in the first half by outshooting the Lassen Cougars 3-1 but at the half the match was still knotted at 0-0.
The second half started out roughly for the Golden Eagles when center midfielder Oscar Gonzales made a hard tackle and was ejected from the match in the 50th minute so the FRC men had to play the remaining 40 minutes a man down. Fortunately for the Eagles just 6 minutes after the ejection Eagles leading scored Juan Garcia drove down the left wing and lofted a high shot toward the back post. The Cougars keeper tracked the ball and tried in vain to collect the shot and fumbled it into the net, FRC 1 Lassen 0. In the 78th minute the Golden Eagles scored what would end up being the match winner. Alex Reyes, who leads the team with 5 assists crossed the ball into the box from the right flank and there waiting to collect it was Jose Martinez who chested the ball and fired it into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.
2 minutes later Lassen caught FRC still in a celebratory mood and struck for a consolation goal when Eagles keeper Tony Wakeford called for the ball but was unable to collect it.
October 5, – Redding, CA – For only the third time this season the Feather River College men’s soccer team felt what it was like to lose a match losing 2-1 to the Shasta College Knights. The match was very atypical of the FRC men’s style of play and Coach Don Williams felt that it was due to overconfidence and lack of focus in preparation for the match. Williams was quoted saying “I try to live by and teach the 5 P’s. Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance because the way you train is the way you play. Our men went into the match believing that they did not need to work hard prior to the match, did not warm-up with intensity and paid the price of overconfidence.”
Shasta struck first in the second minute with a well-placed chip over the head of FRC keeper Anthony Wakeford and while FRC would outshoot yet another opponent 6-5 in the first half they could not find the back of the net. The second half the Golden Eagles would start to pull things together and scored a goal off of a long throw in to the head of Cesar Vasquez who flicked it on to Alex Reyes. Reyes headed a rocket ball into the back of the net to tie the score 1-1 in the 60th minute.
The Knights were not finished however and struck the match winner in the 75th minute when FRC second half keeper Jose Felipe came out for a ball only to see a Knight player place it over his head and while Felipe got his hand to the ball the attempt was futile and the ball settled into the FRC goal.
“I hope our men have learned a valuable lesson today, if so it is great to get this out of the way before playoff time rolls around. It is great to be confident but overconfidence and poor preparation can lead to disaster” stated Williams.
October 1– Eureka, CA – Playing at what may be the toughest Golden Valley Conference venue, College of the Redwoods, the Feather River College Golden Eagles men earned at 0-0 draw and a crucial point on the road. “That football field we had to play on may be the worst soccer field in the conference, so walking away with a point is not a bad thing” said Coach Don Williams. Coach Williams was referring to the fact that the football field which also serves as the soccer field is very rounded and quite torn up making it difficult to connect passes on the ground which is how Feather River men and women prefer to play the game.
The match turned out to be fairly lopsided in turns of possession time with the Golden Eagles holding on to the ball a whopping 80% of the match and outshooting Redwoods 21-8. “I have no doubt that our men will be more comfortable on our home pitch when Redwoods visits us on Tuesday October 26.
Sophomore Juan Garcia led all players with 4 shots on goal and had the Eagles best 2 chances of the day. Perhaps the best opportunity came when Freshman Alex Reyes, Incline Nevada, crossed a rocket of a ball through the 6 yard box and Garcia flew in sliding in an attempt to knock the ball into the net but this being a game of inches, Garcia had the ball skim off the bottom of his boot and slide just wide of the net. “I think that play typified how we were barely missing the back of the net all game long. The good news is we are creating chances and playing attractive soccer, the goals will come” Said Williams.
Freshman keeper Tony Wakeford earned his second clean sheet of the season making 3 saves on the day.
The Feather River College men are now 2-2-3 on the season and look to get their third win Tuesday October 5th against the Shasta College Knights in Redding, CA.
September 22 -Livermore, CA – In the professional game of soccer they say to play for a tie on the road and a win at home. Well FRC soccer deserved a win at Las Positas on Wednesday but had to settle for the 1 point and a 1-1 draw against the Hawks. The men were coming off of a heartbreaking 3-0 loss at Napa where they had outshot Napa 25-5 but could not find that elusive goal they needed. At Las Positas last Wednesday they would draw first blood when Sophomore Juan Garcia took a free kick from 25 yards out just one minute from half time and bent it around the wall into the upper right corner of the Hawks goal to put FRC up 1-0.
The
Golden Eagles had dominated the first half of the contest by
outshooting Las Positas 14-3 but as they have been prone to do lately
were not able to find the back of the net more often and as a result
were only up by the one goal at the half.
The second half saw the wind speed pickup and push into the face of the FRC men making it increasingly difficult to get the ball down the field with the accuracy and pace that they are used to playing. Las Positas was able to take advantage of the wind at their backs by playing long balls down the field hoping to connect and break through the Golden Eagles defense. Finally in the 56th minute the Hawks struck with a long ball and a breakaway on goal. Freshman keeper and England foreign exchange student Tony Wakeford came out of his goal to challenge but the Hawks striker was able to put the ball past him and into the net for a 1-1 draw. The scoreline would finish that way but first year Coach Don Williams said that he was extremely proud of his men. “I truly believe that we are passing the ball on the ground better than any Community College team in the state and maybe better than most NCAA teams in the state right now, the goals will come soon in droves.”
The FRC men and women play a double header on Tuesday the 28th against Lassen College. Kickoff for the women is at 2pm and the men will follow at 4pm.
September 3 – Quincy, CA – The Golden Eagles men hosted Victor Valley College and Butte College in the 2nd Annual FRC Invitational Soccer Tournament and kept the championship at home.
In Match number 1, FRC took on Victor Valley. Last year the Golden
Eagles tied the Rams 2-2 and lost 1-0, this year the results were
different. The Golden Eagles came out of the gate fast and furious
barely letting the Rams touch the ball in the first half. The
outstanding possession paid off for FRC in the 18th minute when the
Golden Eagles were awarded a penalty kick. Sophomore Oscar Gonzalez
stepped up to take the kick but saw his shot turned away by the Rams
keeper. Finally in the 35th minute FRC were rewarded for their hard work
and were awarded a free kick outside the 18 yard box. 
The
Golden Eagles were way ahead of the Rams catching the Rams defense
sleeping. Angel Chavez took the free kick and instead of shooting the
ball as the Rams expected, he passed the ball to Garrett Fausett who
hammered the ball home from 16 yards out. The second half saw the Golden
Eagles fatigue a bit and the Rams took advantage by scoring in the 80th
minute. Golden Eagles keeper Jose Felipe was outstanding on the day
recording 7 saves including 2 point blank saves in the 60th and 65th
minutes of the match. The first was a reaction save off a Victor Valley
header inside the 6 yard box. “That save was world class, it really
fired up the team to finish strong.” said head coach Don Williams. The
final result ended in a draw FRC Golden Eagles 1, VVC Rams 1.
The
second match of the tournament took place on Saturday September 4th and
saw FRC take on the Butte College Road Runners. Last season in the 1st
meeting of these conference championship contenders Butte beat FRC 3-0,
this year the Golden Eagles turned the tables and added two more beating
the Road Runners 5-1. Cesar “Chito” Vazquez opened the scoring for FRC
in the 10th minute getting an assist from Jorge Loera after a beautiful
movement was begun by Alex Reyes when he flicked the ball over the head
of the Butte defenders. First year head coach Don Williams said of the
goal “that first goal was one of the most creative college goals I have
ever seen, it just showed us how dangerous we can be inside the box.”
Goal number two was scored by Alex Sanchez with the assist going to Alex
Reyes just before half time in the 44th minute.
After a few half time adjustments the Golden Eagles just got better scoring 3 more with goals from Oscar Gonzalez, assisted by Peter Salazar, Makenzi Lucas assisted by Alex Reyes and the 5th goal came from Jorge Loera with the assist going to Anthony Dong. Butte College finally got their consolation goal with 2 minutes left in the match.
Match number 3 on Sunday, September 5th saw Feather River College again taking on Victor Valley College. It only took 20 minutes for the Golden Eagles to find the back of the net with freshman striker Makenzi Lucas slotting the ball home past the Rams keeper, Alex Reyes assisted on the goal. The second goal was scored by Christian Galindo and was again assisted by Alex Reyes. Goalkeepers Jose Felipe and Tony Wakeford combined for 2 saves and the clean sheet. “Defensively we are really coming into our own.” Said head coach Don Williams. “I could not be prouder of how our men are applying what we do in training to match performances.” Final score was 2-0.