SFCC soccer opens season

August 30 Mineral Area College at Fred E. Davis Sports Complex

The State Fair Community College (SFCC) Roadrunners opened the season with a 2-2 draw against the Region 16 and Missouri Community College Athletic Conference rival Mineral Area College Cardinals on Wednesday, August 30 at the Fred E. Davis Sports Complex. MACC is receiving votes in the NJCAA Men's Soccer Poll.

The game began as a defensive struggle. Both teams had opportunities but were unable to convert in the opening half. The game remained scoreless until SFCC got on the scoreboard with about 26 minutes remaining in the second half with a goal from Dario Catalan, with an assist from Oscar Garcia.

Mineral Area tied the game with a goal with three minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the game. The Cardinals would score again courtesy of a penalty kick to take the lead.

SFCC scored a goal with less than two minutes remaining in the contest off a shot from Jervan Matthew with an assist from Ian Viscarra to square the contest.

"Mineral Area is a very good team," said Roadrunners head coach Michael Poropat. "They are very well coached. Hopefully, we can keep improving in the next five or six weeks. Once everyone is healthy and fit, I would like to see what we can do in the postseason."

 Adrian Fernandez got the start in goal for SFCC and made 10 saves.

"I appreciated the crowd," said Poropat. "I appreciated the noise and the support they gave to our team. Hopefully, we keep that up for the rest of the year. I want to credit our guys for keeping their heads up after we went down by a goal late in the game. At the end of the day, I would say it was a fair result."

September 2 Western Iowa Tech Community College at Sioux City, Iowa

SFCC fell 2-1 to Western Iowa Tech Community College on Saturday, September 2 in Sioux City. Iowa Western Iowa Tech got on the scoreboard first with about 22 minutes gone in the opening half to take the lead. Western Iowa Tech added on another goal less than 10 minutes later to extend the advantage.

SFCC got on the scoreboard with about 39 minutes gone in the opening half with a goal from Bruno Bas Berdiel. SFCC battled throughout the second half but would get no closer.

September 4 Northeast Community College at Norfolk, Nebraska

SFCC (0-2-1) lost to Northeast Community College 4-1 on Monday, September 4 in Norfolk, Nebraska to close out a two-game road swing.

Northeast Community College opened the scoring with a goal three minutes into the game. Ethan Phillips tied the match for SFCC with a goal in the 28^th minute. Northeast scored again in the 31^st minute to take a 2-1 lead into halftime. Northeast added two more goals in the second half to provide the winning margin.

Fernandez got the start in goal for SFCC and made nine saves.

David Rohrbach SFCC Athletics