Men's Soccer: Roadrunners' second-half rally beats Chaffey 2-1

Mauricio Sanchez' goal in the 76th minute completed a second-half rally for Rio Hondo to beat Chaffey 2-1.
Mauricio Sanchez' goal in the 76th minute completed a second-half rally for Rio Hondo to beat Chaffey 2-1.

Rio Hondo College remains unbeaten in South Coast Conference play thanks to its 2-1 come-from-behind win against former Foothill Conference rival Chaffey College on Tuesday in Whittier. Trailing 1-0 midway in the second half, the Roadrunners erupted for a pair of goals within a six-minute span to pull out the victory.

The SCC North Division win improved Rio Hondo to 6-2-4 overall and 2-0-2 in conference play. The impressive run for Rio Hondo continues as the Roadrunners are unbeaten in nine of their last 10 contests.

Tuesday's game started as a defensive battle as neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net in the first half. That stayed true all the way until the 60th minute when Chaffey's Jonathan Umana scored to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.

But 10 minutes later, Kevin Silva got the Roadrunners back into the game with his equalizing goal off the assist from Jefferson Cluggy-Soto. And in the 76th minute, Cluggy-Soto once again set up the eventual game-winning goal, this time to Mauricio Sanchez.

Jose Paredes played well in goal for Rio Hondo as he totaled five saves in the victory. For Chaffey (6-5-1, 1-3-0 SCC), goalkeeper Ian Lopez also had five saves.

Rio Hondo looks to continue its hot streak on Friday (Oct. 14) when the Roadrunners host El Camino College-Compton Center in a 6 p.m. SCC interdivision game.