SOCCER: Bulldogs men stumble against Condors

Hancock College/s men/s soccer team seemed all set to grab its first Western State Conference win.

Then the Bulldogs couldn/t hold a two-goal lead. Twice.

Oxnard scored twice in the second half to defeat the Bulldogs (0-4-1, 1-8-1) 4-3 at Hancock Wednesday. The game had been originally scheduled for Friday, but was moved up.

The Bulldogs were ahead 2-0 and then 3-1 in the first half. But all that early good work went for naught.

Oxnard, trailing 3-2 at halftime, controlled things from the outset of the second half and scored in the 50th and 65th minutes of the game.

"It/s frustrating," Hancock coach Al Garcia said. "The guys are playing their (butts) off.

"We switched Victor (Velasco) to offense, and that was working." After John Boswell scored on an assist from Jose Olivera in the third minute, Velasco scored on a well-placed free kick to make it 2-0.

Less than a minute after Oxnard scored, Velasco drilled a shot off the goal keeper/s hands to make it 3-1.

But then Condors started running free behind Hancock/s defense, and goal keeper George Hunter couldn/t respond to enough shots.

"Phil Vinke, who usually plays defense for us back there, has a real bad back so he/s gone after 30 minutes," Garcia said. "Felix Ramirez, our starting right half, has a bad back too. So we moved Victor back to sweeper," and then Hancock/s offensive movement went dry.

Hunter "has to get stronger back there," Garcia said. "The guys can only rally so much."

Hancock has a bye and then plays a conference game at 4 p.m. next Tuesday at Glendale. "Hopefully we can start a streak of five in a row," then, said Garcia.

High School

Water polo

Righetti 12, SLO 7

SAN LUIS OBISPO 7 Michael Tucker put in five goals, and Mike Van Gallio scored four as the Warriors (1-0, 7-3) won their PAC-5 League opener.

Cory Yamashiro made 12 saves for Righetti.

It/s YMCA Fun-raiser time again

The field is filling up for the Santa Maria Valley YMCA/s 25th annual "Funraiser" golf tournament so, if you/re planning on entering, you should give the Y a call soon.

This year/s tourney will be held on Monday, Oct. 18 at the Santa Maria Country Club.

A full day of fun is planned with all proceeds going to benefit Santa Maria Valley YMCA childcare programs.

The "Funraiser" gets underway at 10:30 a.m. with registration, pairings and some practice time.

The tournament kicks off with a shotgun start at 11:30.

At 5 p.m. a most unusual hole-in-one contest will be held 7 a helicopter-drop hole-in-one contest.

First you buy a golf ball for ,25 7 and anyone can buy into this, you don/t have to be playing in the tournament. Tournament players will get one ball as part of their ,150 entry fee. Those balls will go for a short flight 7 they/ll be loaded onto a helicopter, flown over the golf course and dropped all at once 7 and if your ball goes into the hole, you/ll win a chunck of money… ,12,500.

Golfers who hit a hole-in-one one any of the par threes will also win a special prize.

Dinner, the awards ceremony and both a live and silent auction will be held after the tournament, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Sponsorships 7 master, green and sponsor board 7 are also still available.

You can sign up by calling the YMCA at 937-8521.

Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail at elliottstern@pulitzer.net. Sports writer Kenny Cress contributed to this column. He can be reached at 739-2237 or by e-mail at kcress@pulitzer.net.

September 30, 2004