Montgomery College’s Men’s soccer team tied a game and dropped another in the inaugural Tom Bichy Memorial Tournament.
The tournament was the first in a line of annual soccer tournaments meant to commemorate former coach Montgomery College coach Tom Bichy, who passed away at 69 due to complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
The tournament held competition of four nationally ranked teams: Montgomery College, the Mt. San Antonio College Mounties, the Richland College Thunderducks, and the Suffolk Community College Sharks.
“They played the best [and] they competed with the best.” said MC’s head coach Pedro Braz following the tournament. “It’s good to play these games early in the season.” He added.
The Raptors’ first faced the Mt. San Antonio Mounties on Saturday, September 6. The Raptors made it a close affair and held off a push by the Mounties late in the second half to take the game into overtime.
Overtime, however, was cut short halfway into the first half due to lightning in the area, as officials called the game with the Raptors even against the Mounties, nil-nil.
“We had a couple of chances.” said sophomore defender Brandon McKoy, co-captain after the game.
Rebounding from the draw, the Raptors faced Richland College the next day, in their final game of the Memorial Tournament.
The game got off to a rough start with Montgomery College conceding their first goal of the tournament in the opening minutes of the game. They struck back in the 22nd minute of the first half with sophomore midfielder Javier Nieto scoring to tie the game.
“I was in the right place at the right time.” said Nieto following the game.
After Nieto’s effort, the game remained a chippy affair with a few bouts of pushing and shoving in between whistles, but the Raptors fought their way to another overtime. This time, however, Richland pounced twice, with a goal in the first half of the overtime period which was disallowed due to an offside call, but the second strike saw the Thunderducks close out the game. The Raptors left overtime with a 2-1 loss.
For their in-game efforts, MC’s Javier Nieto, sophomore goalkeeper, Max Labouski, and Brandon McKoy were named to the All-Tournament team.
Following the loss, Richland College’s squad was announced the inaugural Tom Bichy Memorial Tournament champions.
Richland College freshman Eduard Hinsinger was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
