Citrus Charges Past Cypress

Citrus College came out fired up for its home debut and grabbed a big 5-1 victory over Cypress College Friday afternoon – the most goals the Owls have scored in a single game since 2018.

The Owls improve to 1-1-0 on the year, while the Chargers slip to 0-1-1 overall.

It didn't take long for Citrus to get on the board as Isaac Ochoa scored the Owls' first goal of the year in the sixth minute off an assist from Sammy Ghandour.

The Chargers equalized in the 23^rd minute, but less than four minutes later the Owls took back their lead. After Citrus was awarded a corner kick, Alan Lira drove the ball into the box and it ricocheted off a Charger and into the back of the net.

Citrus tacked on another goal before halftime as Jacob Derayal drew a foul in the box and Ghandour converted the penalty with ease to give the Owls a commanding 3-1 lead at the break.

The Owls didn't let up from there and found the back of the net once again in the 65^th minute as Lira crossed in a ball from the right side and connected with Derayal's head for a goal.

Cypress looked like it might manage to break through once more in the 76^th minute and got in behind the Owl defense, but Yves Puplampu made a sliding kick save off the line to keep the visitors out of the net. Another Charger own goal in the 86^th minute all but sealed the 5-1 victory for Citrus as Christian Sanchez posted eight saves in goal to pick up his first collegiate win.

Citrus looks to build on its offensive performance and is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Southwestern College at 3 p.m.