Jesus Lopez had this header hit off the crossbar late in the Dons 2-1 loss to Golden West College.
Jesus Lopez had this header hit off the crossbar late in the Dons 2-1 loss to Golden West College.
October 24, 2014

Dons Unable to Overcome Two Goal Deficit in Loss to Golden West

After a second half goal pulled the Dons back in, their best shot at a tie glanced off the crossbar in the 2-1 loss.

Box Score

SANTA ANA - The Dons fell to visiting Golden West College 2-1 in an Orange Empire Conference match. The loss drops the Dons (8-3-4, 4-3-1) further out of contention in the conference behind the Rustlers (10-2-2, 7-1-0) who sit atop the standings.

Golden West got the first goal of the match in the ninth minute when the Dons goalkeeper attempted to play a ball well out of the box. The failed clear attempt fell to Nathan DaRosa who fired a long shot for the goal.

After the Rustlers went into the half with a 1-0 lead, DaRosa scored again in the 63rd minute when Alex Velazquez sent a long pass through the Dons defense to DaRosa for the goal.

The Dons would come back with a goal in the 64th minute when Omar Perez sent a pass to the top of the box that found Alexis Supancic who shot to the far post. His goal cut the lead in half at 2-1. Then, in the 86th minute, the Dons narrowly missed the equalizing goal when Jesus Lopez's header went off the crossbar.

Golden West nearly extended its lead in stoppage time but Dennis Hernandez made a save against the Rustlers penalty kick attempt. That kept the Dons hopes alive with over five minutes of stoppage time, but SAC was unable to manage another shot.

Hernandez made eight saves for the Dons in 90 minutes while Golden West had to use two keepers for the victory. Jerry Berber made the start but was forced to leave in the 20th minute with an injury. Berber didn't face a single shot but his replacement, Kevin Cabrera, made a pair of saves with one goal against in the final 71 minutes.