COD Men’s Soccer slides past Knights on Guzman game winner, 3-1

COD (4-2-2) ran into an old Conference foe and the result was the same, a testy, hard fought game with the Roadrunners receiving a win, as Desert defeated the San Diego City Knights (0-4), 3-1.

Desert would get on the scoreboard first in the most bizarre way as freshman forward Jorge Quintero (Thermal Coachella Valley) poked a pass to sophomore midfielder Emmanuel Munoz (La Quinta H.S.) and from about 45 yards out, clobbered a shot towards the net. Somehow, the Knights defender must have misjudged the ball attempting to head the ball, because the shot skipped off of the San Diego City players back and the Knights keeper was not ready for it. The shot would carry another 20 yards into the back of the net, giving the Roadrunners an early 1-0 lead.

San Diego City would equalize in the 28th minute and the Roadrunners would regain the lead in extra time at the end of the first half, when freshman forward Danys Portillo (Thermal Desert Mirage) found sophomore forward Leyver Guzman (Cathedral City H.S.) and Guzman rifled a shot into the back of the net to give Desert a 2-1 lead just before the whistle blew.

In the 83rd minute, sophomore midfielder Gilberto Uribe (Thermal Coachella Valley) connected with Quintero, giving the Roadrunners a 3-1 lead. The officials would suspend the game with 2:20 remaining in the game due to darkness.

Freshman goal keeper Sebastian Ascencio (La Quinta H.S.) and the defensive arrangement in front of him, played really well, as Ascencio faced 20 total shots on the afternoon, but only had four that were on goal.

Desert has an 18-15-5 record against San Diego City, including a 12-6-2 record in Palm Desert.

The next game for Desert is on Friday, September 24 at 4 p.m. at the Santa Ana Dons. The Roadrunners first met Santa Ana in 2007 and have a 1-2 record against the Dons, all games in this series have happened at Santa Ana, with Desert taking their most recent matchup in 2019 by a score of 2-0.

The next home game for the Roadrunners is in 24 days, on Friday, October 15 at 4 p.m. versus the San Bernardino Valley Wolverines. Desert first faced off with the Wolverines in 1981 and has a 12-18-8 record against San Bernardino Valley, including a 6-11-2 record in Palm Desert.

-Spectator Notice-

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Information, Story & Photo provided by COD Sports Information.