SAMOHI — The soccer pitch became a blood bath Wednesday when the faculty and staff from Santa Monica College stomped on a team fielded by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District in the third district-on-district match.
SMC scored seven goals to the SMMUSD’s single point, hard won by marine biology teacher Benjamin Kay late in the second quarter.
The match leaves SMC undefeated in the rivalry with two wins and one tie.
Players took to the field on Samohi’s new synthetic surface at 4:30 p.m., SMC’s players outfitted in uniforms ordered specifically for the game.
It was the first time the K-12 district team has enjoyed a home field advantage, although it didn’t much help them under the punishing assault on the goal rained down by SMC.
On SMC’s first possession they immediately handed the ball to SMMUSD’s Kay, who moonlights as a midfielder with the LA Premier League’s Hollywood United.
Though Kay got close, it fell to SMC President Chui Tsang to take the first shot on goal, which was blocked by former PTA Council President Rick Gates.
SMC drew first blood with a successful goal in the first 20-minute quarter, but SMMUSD successfully controlled the ball and kept making strong rushes toward SMC’s goal.
SMC goalie Clyde Singleton, however, was having none of it.
His day job may involve repairing cooling systems at the college, but Singleton was red hot in the goal box, successfully blocking all but one SMMUSD’s attempts on goal.
One of those belonged to Kay. The other, a header by School Board President Ben Allen set up by Planning Commissioner and district parent Ted Winterer, was called back as offsides.
Kay’s goal was answered in less than a minute by Luis Jauregui, instructor in non-credit English as second language courses, who would go on to score again for the college.
SMC walked into the game with at least one major advantage — numbers. The SMC sideline coach barked orders to five waiting white shirts, calling for substitutions to keep players fresh.
SMMUSD had no such buffer. The sidelines were dead except for a handful of supporters.
By the half, SMMUSD had kept the score 2-1 in favor of SMC, but were starting to show weakness. Several players were limping, and eventually the team had difficulty moving the ball past mid-field.
It lead to a massive scoring drive by SMC, who would go on to make another five successful goals.
The teams will meet again, but on friendlier terms.
The SMC group plays together fairly regularly in Tuesday night scrimmages. This was a rare occasion to have a semi-formal match, with AYSO referees and all the trimmings.
ashley@www.smdp.com
