After a long bye, the Bakersfield College men’s soccer club returned to the field on March 22 at Bakersfield College, where they hosted division rival CSU Northridge and suffered an 8-1 loss.

The Renegades played a very phyisical first half, keeping it close throughout with a potent defense that kept Northridge from overwealming them with goals, and an offense capable of scoring, but the second half was a completely different game.

The Renegades fell into a 3-1 hole about three minutes in to the second half, but Finch denied that it was this deficit that caused the lack of energy in the second half.

“I told the guys at halftime that even if we tie it [2-2] or go down [3-1] we still need to have a good effort on the field,” Head Coach Justin Finch said.

“After going down 3-1, the players on the field and the players on the bench that were substituted in gave a lackluster effort. That’s why we had a good talk at the end of the game.”

After a costly penalty committed by a Renegade player, Northridge quickly scored its third goal of the game, and from there on the Renegades quickly lost all chance at securing a victory.

Finch said that a lack of team effort was a major factor in the second half.“Players were starting to become individuals and over dribble in spots that you don’t even need to dribble, and [when they] lost possession in those spots, it was costing us four or five goals,” said Finch.

The Renegades fell to 1-3 in the West Coast Soccer Association League, tallying up three points and sitting fifth in the Central Conference.

The soccer club’s next game is a road game against Antelope Valley College on April 6.