The second ever Grand Rapids Community College men’s soccer regular season has concluded after the Raiders faced Kuyper College on Tuesday and Mineral Area College on Wednesday. GRCC was able to defeat Kuyper and tie to Mineral Area, pushing their final record on the season to 8-5-4. The Raiders were able to clinch a playoff spot where they’ll take on St. Clair County Community College after a great month of September which helped give the Raiders a winning record.
In the first game against Kuyper College, it was a very back-and-forth first half between the two teams, with a few chances for both, but no real threat. Until the 39th minute, when freshman midfielder Brandon Gomez scored a wonderful bicycle kick to make it 1-0 GRCC.
At halftime, GRCC outshot Kuyper 10-6, but the Kuyper goalkeeper was able to make four saves to keep the game from being out of reach.
Freshman goalkeeper Fabian Rodriguez got the start in this game and made his impact felt, making a nice diving save in the 65th minute to keep it 1-0 Raiders.
But just a few minutes later in the 70th minute, chirping began between both teams and the refs, with several people getting visibly agitated. The incident began after a potential penalty was not called in favor of the Raiders, which sparked tension from the GRCC side. Freshman defender Jaime Bautista was handed a yellow card as well as a Kuyper player. But a Kuyper player was also handed a red after taking out his frustration on the sideline, kicking an equipment bag in front of the ref, meaning they would be down a player the remainder of the game.
The Raiders made up for it quickly, as freshman midfielder Rodrigo Perez scored a breakaway goal to go up 2-0. The goal from Perez was all the Raiders needed to hold on, defeating Kuyper College 2-0.
“I was really disappointed in how we started off,” said head coach Damiekco Smith. “We played really slow, unorganized. I thought after that Schoolcraft loss we would come out on fire, and we didn’t, but the second half I thought we did a little bit better.”
The second game against Mineral Area College was a late addition into the schedule, only being added within the last week. Mineral Area entered the game 11-4-1 and ranked 13th. This game would be a final test for GRCC before the postseason begins.
GRCC was able to triple Mineral Area’s shots in the first half, registering nine to their three. But Mineral Area had more shots on target, forcing Rodriguez to make two saves while the Mineral Area keeper needed just one save to shut out the Raiders.
The second half favored Mineral Area more, with the team putting up nine shots in the second half and holding the Raiders to just five. But in the 73rd minute, a red card was handed out to Mineral Area, reducing their squad size to 10 men for the rest of the game.
GRCC was unable to capitalize on the red card, and would end the game scoreless, as would Mineral Area, ending the game with an even 0-0 scoreline, and putting a bow on the Raiders regular season.
When asked about how he felt the overall season went, Smith responded with, “I thought the season went absolutely well. Overall a little different than last year, I think this team actually mimicked last year’s team in terms of success.”
GRCC drew a familiar opponent for the first round of the playoffs, St Clair County, a team the Raiders split the season series with. Smith shared his thoughts on the matchup.
“I would feel better if we weren’t playing in St. Clair to be honest with you, because I know how that goes, the home crowd, the home refs, the home everything, which it should be,” he said. “So we’ll just have to go down there and play. They’re a really good team.”
The game will take place on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1:30 p.m. in Marysville. Should the Raiders win, the team would then play the winner of game one on Sunday at 12 p.m. for a chance to go to the NJCAA District Championship.
