Roadrunners’ home opener spoiled by Cosumnes River’s late goal and controversial refereeing decisions

On August 27, Butte College’s men’s soccer team took the field against Cosumnes River in what was the Roadrunners’ first home game of the season.

The match, played at our very own soccer field located on the college’s main campus, began at 4:00 p.m. and was officiated by Jack Schmitz, Armando Gutierrez, and Sergiu Lordachi.

While the match was indeed the Roadrunners’ home debut, it wasn’t their first game of the season. That occurred a few days back at Modesto, in a game that ended in a positive 1-1 tie against the team from the northern San Joaquin Valley.

After the away stalemate against the Pirates, the Roadrunners went into Tuesday’s match understanding the importance of a win against Cosumnes River—as it would be the team’s first win of the season and would surely heighten team morale as the Roadrunners prepare to take on the 2024 season.

However, Butte wasn’t the only team ready to put up a fight, as Cosumnes River, led by Coach Ron Preble, also went into yesterday’s match with expectations of a big away win to kick off their season right.

From the start of the game, it was clear that the Cosumnes River Hawks were in it to win it, as the team from Sacramento put Butte under pressure from minute one.

The game’s first scoring opportunity came in Cosumnes River’s favor when, just two minutes into the match, the away team’s number 7, Christian Garduno, put in a dangerous header toward Butte College’s goal, but it went wide.

As the first five minutes of the game flew by, Butte College struggled to hold the ball on the offensive side, while Cosumnes River had the liberty to create from all sides of the pitch.

However, if Butte seemed to be lacking when it came to creating, they were definitely making up for it defensively—especially Butte College’s number 4, Elias, who throughout the first half made multiple game-saving tackles.

With Cosumnes River on full throttle and Butte holding on, another dangerous moment for the Roadrunners came at 9 minutes when Christian Garduno sent in a potentially dangerous through ball toward the goal, but thankfully, Butte College keeper Manny was able to react quickly and come off his line to make a crucial save.

In many ways, the opening 15 minutes set the tone for what the first half as a whole would grow to be—with the Hawks being able to resiliently keep their structure and create plays, while Butte College struggled to do the same, heavily relying on Elias and Manny to stay in the game.

Butte College’s first clear potential chance came at 18 minutes, when, after an outside-the-box foul, the Roadrunners had a set-piece opportunity.

Sadly, the free kick was poorly taken and led to nothing more than a Cosumnes River counterattack, which resulted in a goal-scoring opportunity for the away team, but the shot went wide.

As the first half progressed, Butte began to improve, with a few effective plays being made using number 10, Stef, as a sort of escape route to get out of pressure.

Butte’s first big moment in the game came late in the first half when, at the 36-minute mark, Elias put in a well-hit header off of a corner, but a Cosumnes River defender was able to save it on the line.

As the game reached its halfway mark, Butte began to slowly dominate.

With more possession and a good number of missed shots, it began to seem that the Roadrunners were finally getting their heads in the game.

This resulted in many created opportunities in the dying moments of the first half, with the best being a solo run by Aiden down the left side, which he finished by sending in a through ball to number 19, Lenny. Sadly, Cosumnes River’s defense was able to get to the ball first and clear it.

Although Butte controlled most of the offensive actions at the end of the first half, it was the Hawks who created the most dangerous moment.

In the last minute of extra time, Cosumnes River’s number 29, Carlos Robles, received a beautiful cross and put in a deadly header. However, Butte College’s keeper, Manny, was able to make a fantastic diving save to keep it 0-0.

This save by Manny was crucial, as a goal just before the half would’ve surely affected Roadrunner morale going into the second half.

With the first half over, Butte was able to breathe a sigh of relief as they somehow ended the half without conceding.

This was largely due to great defensive performances from both Elias and Manny.

Beyond those two, Butte’s number 10, Stef, also stood out, as many times he was the only way Coach Ross’ team was able to get out of pressure from the opposition.

When looking at the opposition, the standout aspect of the Cosumnes River Hawks was how structured the team was. The tactical discipline held by Ron Preble’s team was impressive and is what made them seem overall better in the first half, despite Butte College clearly having more skillful players.

The second half started at 5:08 p.m., with Butte at a much higher pace than in the first.

In the very first minute, Butte College made a very effective attack but was stopped in their tracks as number 27, Diego, was offside.

A big blow for Coach Ross’ team came three minutes into the second half when Elias, who up until this point had been a crucial player, was fouled and spent a few seconds on the ground. Hurt from the impact of the hit, Elias had to be substituted a few minutes later, with number 5, Josh, coming on in his place.

Up until now, the referees, Jack Schmitz, Armando Gutierrez, and Sergiu Lordachi, had been exceptional with no big mistakes and many good calls.

However, this all changed at the sixth minute of the second half.

From this moment on, the game would begin to be heavily influenced by controversial decisions from the referees, who, sadly, had a very poor performance in the game’s final half.

The first controversial decision from the refs came when Butte College’s number 19, Lenny, was hit in what was a very high-impact play. The hit was strong enough that Lenny spent a few minutes on the ground and even had to be subbed off.

However, instead of awarding the foul to Butte and giving a yellow card to the aggressor, the referee decided to give the foul against Butte and issued a yellow card to Lenny.

As the second half went on, Josh, who had come on for Elias, began to stand out.

Josh had big shoes to fill, but in exceptional Roadrunner fashion, he more than lived up to the challenge. He did a great job of communicating and was essential in Butte being more structured within the second half.

The second half came with many more chances for the Roadrunners. An example of this came at the 11th minute when Butte’s number 7, Guille, had a clear scoring opportunity but hit the outside netting.

At 15 minutes, Butte had another big chance, this time from a corner. The corner was taken nicely, and Butte’s number 3, Gustav, was able to put in a nice header, but like Elias in the first half, the header went straight into the defense.

The defensive prowess showcased by Cosumnes River during corners came as a great shock to many of the Cosumnes parents watching in the stands. This is due to the fact that, as they explained, last season the Hawks conceded most of their goals from set pieces. Knowing this really brings to the forefront the hard work put in by Cosumnes River, as in yesterday’s game Butte had multiple set-piece plays but didn’t capitalize on any—not due to a lack of ability from the Roadrunners, but due to defensive resilience from the Sac-based team.

As the second half played out, the game continued to be an intense battle with both teams attacking but failing to connect the final pass.

At the 18th minute, Cosumnes River created a dangerous moment for the Roadrunners, but Manny was able to come out and make a crucial clearance.

Soon after, at the 22nd minute, Manny would go to work yet again, this time after Cosumnes River’s number 5, Jose Contreras, made a very good solo run down the flank and delivered a dangerous cross, to which Butte’s keeper did a great job saving.

The game’s most controversial moment came 12 minutes later, when, at the 34th minute, one of Butte College’s players was hit inside the penalty box. As a result of the clear foul, the sideline referee, who was right in front of the play, signaled that it was a penalty, but the main referee, who didn’t have a full angle of the play, said it was not.

This curious moment, when one referee said one thing and the other said another, created great outrage from the Roadrunners bench, and a player from the bench even received a red card.

This was a game-changing moment, as a penalty at such a late stage of a tied game would have surely changed the whole dynamic of the match. It’s truly disappointing to see such incompetent officiating, where the referee who was further away from the action decided to overrule the sideline referee’s decision.

While the referee’s decision was out of Butte’s control, it seemed to have a clear impact on team morale—as after the decision, it in many ways felt like the Roadrunners were not only playing against the opposition but against the referees as well.

Soon after the disastrous call from the match officials, Butte was hit with another big blow. This occurred when, after an unfortunate loss of possession and an effective counter-attack, Cosumnes River gained a corner.

The corner was taken by Hawks’ number 13, Camden Locke, who put in a solid cross, and after a bad header from a Cosumnes River player and an even worse attempt to capture the ball by Butte College’s keeper, the ball ended up being loose within the box and landed perfectly at Cosumnes River’s Christian Garduno’s foot, who was able to put in an effective shot into the back of the net to make it 1-0 Cosumnes River.

Shortly after the game’s opening goal, the referees’ abysmal communication struck again, when, after the sideline referee awarded what would’ve been a potentially dangerous throw-in for the Roadrunners, the main referee again overruled it and gave the throw-in to the Hawks.

Once again, the main referee, who was much further away and with a worse angle of vision, interfered in the game in a way that greatly impacted Butte College.

Butte College’s best chance to tie the game came 41 minutes into the second half when Stef delivered a surgical pass to Lenny, who had a clear 1v1 opportunity with the away team’s keeper, who miraculously came out on top, making a phenomenal save.

This moment was without a doubt one of the game’s decisive moments, as converting this chance would’ve potentially prompted Butte to have the strength to chase a comeback.

However, the goal didn’t come, and as the clock began to run down, the distress within Butte’s team became more and more tangible.

As the Roadrunners pushed and pushed for a late equalizer, Cosumnes River continued to demonstrate defensive discipline. And as time would show, the away team’s ability to withstand pressure and maintain their lead was key to their victory.

Soon after Lenny’s big missed chance, it was the Hawks’ turn to attack. At the 42nd minute, Cosumnes River made a very dangerous attempt on goal, but once again, Butte College’s Manny was able to make an amazing save.

The game’s dying moments were mostly made up of Butte trying to make something happen, while Cosumnes River did what they could to hold onto their win.

The final whistle was blown at 5:58 PM, and with that, Butte College’s men’s soccer team saw their first home game become their first home defeat.

Despite the loss, Butte showed many signs of improvement as the game went on. Although the Roadrunners had a very poor start to the game, as the match progressed, they grew into the occasion, and it’s impossible to discuss the game without mentioning the horrid referee penalty overrule, which undoubtedly changed the whole game.

If the referee had given the penalty, there’s a big chance Butte would’ve scored and, as a result, not conceded a few minutes later—but as the famous Brazilian soccer player Túlio Maravilha once said, “The loser justifies, and the winner celebrates.” And although Butte lost, the season is just starting, and with many more games to come, it’s essential that the team uses yesterday’s game as a valuable learning opportunity.

After the game, I had the opportunity to do a quick interview with Butte College’s man of the match, goalkeeper Manny.

When asked about his thoughts on the match, he replied,

“I think we did alright; of course, we could’ve done a lot better—we have a lot of things to improve. The second half was better than the first; we corrected a lot of mistakes. We swung the ball nicely in the second half, had more chances, and we should’ve scored. There were a couple of bad calls from the refs, but that’s just how it is.”

Manny is Butte College’s starting keeper, and despite the loss, he was without a doubt crucial to the team’s defensive integrity. His overall performance was very solid, and he made multiple saves that prevented the scoreline from being much worse.

Beyond Manny, other players that really stood out were Butte College’s number 4, Elias, who was pivotal defensively with many crucial slide tackles, and number 10, Stef, who put a lot of pressure on the opposition throughout the whole game.

On Cosumnes River’s side, the standout players were without a doubt number 7, Christian Garduno, and number 5, Jose Contreras, as both were at the focal point of most positive things Cosumnes River created throughout the game.

It also must be noted that the Roadrunner is very grateful to the Cosumnes coaching staff, who promptly provided their full roster. Thanks to them, such an in-depth analysis of yesterday’s game was possible, and for that, I am thankful.

Moving on from Tuesday’s match, Butte College’s next home game will be against Contra Costa at 2:00 p.m. at the main campus soccer fields.