Men's soccer comes up empty in season opener

On a cool summer evening with a cheering home crowd and the occasional sound of a vuvuzela horn or two in the background, the scene was setting up perfectly to open the Men's 2010-11 Soccer Season.

The only thing missing for the Cosumnes River Hawks was an opening night win as The Hawks lost their home opener on Aug. 27, 3-1 to Hartnell College.

Hartnell started fast and raced out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the first half. The first goal coming in the third minute by Miguel Viduari and another in the 25^thminute as Jairo Pacheco scored off of a penalty kick.

Hawks head coach Ron Preble said that simple mistakes by his young team helped with Hartnell's goals.

"Certainly you've got to give those guys a little bit of credit," said Preble. "The first goal they score is off of our passing mistake and it gives them a chance to go in. The second goal, our guy instead of standing him up, whacks him and gives them a PK.

"To us it was strictly three mistakes that were certainly avoidable," said Preble. "Other than those chances, I didn't feel like we were threatened other than three chances."

Hawks' freshman defender Edgar Lepe tripped Viduari inside the penalty box, which resulted in Hartnell's second score. The third came from Salvador Oseguera who found a hole in the Hawks defense and scored from about 25 yards out in the 53^rdminute.

Sophomore forward Samuel Gonzales said there is a lot his team can learn from in Friday's loss.

"We can practice a little bit harder because we've been lagging," said Gonzales. "I think after this first game, with all of the freshmen coming up, they know what's expected of them now."

One of the Hawks bright spots was a late goal in the 83^rd minute by freshman forward Jose Garcia.

Despite the loss, Preble and his coaching staff made sure that the team knows it's a long season.

"Our goalkeeper coach Mark Torguson made the comment, 'It's a marathon, not a sprint,'" said Preble. "You've got to learn your lessons early."

 With 19 of the 26 players on the opening night roster being freshmen, including seven starters, the learning curve will have to be quick for the young Hawks. 

One of those 19 freshmen, forward John McNerney knows that even though there is a lot of work still ahead, there were some positives to take from the game.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us," said McNerney. "It gives us a grading scale for what we need to do to prepare ourselves for the rest of the season."

But even after a loss, Preble said that early indicators point toward a bright future for his team.

"It's a good group, team chemistry is good," said Preble. "But again we've got to learn our lessons."

The Hawks will look to bounce back and get their first win on Sept. 1 as they go up against Yuba College in their first away game of the season.