WSC Up For Grabs in 2014

Headed into Western State Conference Men's Soccer play on Tuesday, the WSC looks to be up for grabs. Only two teams currently sit above .500, and five are still searching for they first victory. None of that will matter though as the records will go out the window, once that first whistle blows.

 Los Angeles Mission College could arguably be poised for a breakout campaign in 2014. The Eagles finished tied for third during the 2013 race, and are off to a strong start so far. LA Mission heads into conference play sitting at 2-1-1 on the year, and holds pre-conference wins over San Bernardino Valley College and Pasadena City College, both schools who were in the post-season last year. The Eagles are home to the top goal scorer in the WSC so far this year in Ericson Penate who has scored six times through four matches.

College of the Canyons is the only other WSC school to be above .500 early on this year. The Cougars own wins over El Camino Compton Center and College of the Sequoias, with their lone loss coming to perennial NorCal contender Taft College 2-1. Keeper Steven Rodriguez has been a steadying influence thus far for the Cougars, with a .812 save percentage and a 1.20 goals against average, both the second best marks in the WSC.

Behind those two schools are a pair of one win schools, in Citrus College and Oxnard College. The Condors are the defending WSC Champs, and have played a brutal pre-conference schedule. Oxnard won their first contest of the year 2-0 over San Diego City College, but own losses to Mt. San Antonio, Santa Ana, and Taft Colleges, all top tier soccer schools. The Condors can also boast a tie with Cerritos College. Oxnard is full of experience with 11 sophomores, and are potentially deep with all five of their goals, coming from different players early on. The Owls meanwhile had one of their better seasons in recent memory in 2013, but still finished in the middle of the pack in the WSC. Citrus is fresh off it's first win of the season, a 1-0 victory at Norco College.

After that, it's the winless teams in conference, none of whom can be slept on. Moorpark College has two ties on it's resume already, and it's one loss was by a single goal. Glendale College conversely, also has a pair of ties to it's name, but it did recently suffer a tough loss to Foothill Conference favorite Chaffey College.

After being shutout in their first two matches, Allan Hancock College seems to be gaining momentum as they head into conference contests, with a goal in each of their last two games, while Santa Monica has hung with some tough teams, but just hasn't been able to find the win column. Last, but certainly not least is Santa Barbara City College who can typically never be counted out of the WSC race, and despite being 0-4, we wouldn't get that abacus out anytime soon.