Date: 08/29/2023
The Kankakee Community College men’s soccer team showed individual talent during a loss to Rock Valley College on Tuesday night.
The KCC Cavaliers held their own in the school’s first-ever match-up against the Golden Eagles, an NJCAA Region 4 rival.
In the first half, the Cavaliers used an aggressive defense. But a miscommunication allowed the Eagles to go up 1-0 early.
KCC’s Nathaniel Brown and Marc Robertson both pushed back with confident drives, nearly scoring, before RVCC’s defense caught up and regained control. After Rock Valley scored a second time, KCC’s communication improved drastically.
“At halftime, we talked about sticking to our gameplan, being confident with the ball and how Rock Valley was going to come at us hard in the first 10 minutes to try and put the game away,” Head Coach Mike Barclay said.
The Cavaliers proved just how quickly they can turn around a match. After a physical tangle at the beginning of the second half, KCC’s Malachai Daniel scored on a penalty kick. Almost immediately, Daniel scored again, and the score was 2-2.
“My mentality is always to win during a game,” Daniel said. “[Scoring] was a rush, it felt good.”
For the next 30 minutes, * * the Cavaliers’ defense applied pressure, and no points were scored. After Cavs goalkeeper Tariq Singh made several saves in the middle of the second half, play intensified in the final stretch. Both teams made desperate attempts at scoring the winning point and RVCC ultimately won 3-2.
“Malachai had a tremendous game,” Barclay said. “All season, he has been a standout for us. Tariq, our keeper, has been a rock in the net, keeping us in every game with his standout play.”
The Cavaliers (1-2) next play Milwaukee Area Technical College in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
