The Cosumnes River College men’s soccer team beat the San Joaquin Valley Mustangs 5-0 on Tuesday.

In the first three minutes of the match, the Hawks took the lead with a goal scored by sophomore midfielder Jordan Hongphackdy.

A lot of competitiveness was on display through the first half with goal attempts falling short for each team. Whether the goalkeeper had caught it or the goal attempt was missed. There were some fouls committed by freshman midfielder Konnor Rowan and freshman defensive midfielder Marco Valdez.

In the second half, sophomore attacking midfielder Brian Gutierrez scored two consecutive goals. He said the two goals he scored brought a lot of motivation and energy to himself and the rest of the team.

“We kept each other’s heads up,” Gutierrez said. “We went from zero to 90. Every goal we had, it brought us more motivation and energy to us as a whole.”

Throughout the match, both teams went back and forth in possession of the ball. The fourth goal was scored by freshman forward Alex Fakai, leaving the Hawks with a lead of 4-0.

The fifth and final goal was scored by freshman attacking midfielder Rami Zantout. Although Zantout said that he was happy to get on the score sheet, he also gave credit to the rest of the team.

Zantout said though he had scored a lot of goals before, this was his first goal in college.

“I felt ecstatic to finally put one in the back of the net after a lot of opportunities. My team kept on giving me the ball and I was lucky,” Zantout said.

Despite the Hawks’ victory, head coach Ron Preble said the team could have been cleaner, had a little more flow in the team’s game. Aside from that, he said that the team got their results and that’s all that mattered.

“I think we keep getting better every week and that’s what we’ve been trying to do,” Preble said. “That’s one of our mantras, get better every day, get better every week, get better every month and we let the chips fall where they may. So I think it’s just another step in that direction.”