The Rio Hondo College men’s soccer team hosted Irvine Valley College Sept. 13 in what was a very even matchup, ultimately ending with Rio Hondo winning the game 3-2 after a stellar performance by Jesus Garcia.

The Roadrunner’s found themselves a goal behind early on after Connor Elder got on the scoreboard within the first minute of the game for Irvine Valley College while leaving a few Rio Hondo defenders with little to no time to react.

Nonetheless, it did not take Rio Hondo very long to get themselves back into the game. Garcia scored off of an assist from Nicholas Knapp in the 15th minute to tie the game for the Roadrunners to start off his excellent performance that evening.

Just before the close of the first-half, Garcia found himself giving Rio Hondo the lead in the 41st minute after he netted his second goal of the match after Jefferson Cluggy-Soto’s pass found its way to his feet as he took full advantage of his opportunity.

Garcia’s goal couldn’t have come at a better time, giving Rio Hondo the lead at the half which allowed for a little more comfort as the team huddled up along with Head Coach Brenes and the rest of his coaching staff who then discussed what they needed to do to contain their Irvine Valley opponents and secure the win.

After the second-half commenced, both sides went back and forth for about 25 minutes before Irvine Valley College managed to get the equalizer in the 70th minute with Sean Goode putting his side back on level terms.

Yet, a mere five minutes after conceding, Garcia came to the rescue for Rio Hondo once again and got a hat-trick scoring three goals in one game, in the 75th minute after Antonio Villegas gave him the game winning assist securing Rio Hondo with another 3 points.

Goalkeeper Edwin Elizarraraz managed to get four saves against Irvine Valley, and helped lead Rio Hondo to an unbeaten streak of four games and bringing up their overall record to 3-1-2.

Rio Hondo next hosted San Bernardino College Sept. 20 and won the game in the 90th minute when freshman Antonio Villegas scored a late winner off of Alex Saenz assist, giving Rio Hondo the win.

Rio Hondo then traveled to Santa Monica College Sept. 23 to close out their non-conference matches.

The Roadrunners ended up losing the game 3-0 bringing their overall record to 4-2-2 as they will next play against East Los Angeles College Sept. 30.