Box Score ELGIN, Ill. – The Parkland College men's soccer team kicked off its 2023 season in style, winning 3-1 at Elgin Community College on Saturday, August 19th. The Cobras fell behind early, but a strong second-half performance fueled the comeback win on the road. Sophomore transfer Ron Naftali leveled the game from the spot in the 50th minute, and two late goals pushed Parkland past ECC for its first win of the season.
 
"Starting the season on the road is always tough," Cobra head coach Mark Sikora said after his 19th season opener with Parkland College, "and today was no different."
 
"We did not start particularly well, gave up an early goal, and we were not really clicking as a team," Sikora admitted. "Second half – different story. We played with belief and urgency and dominated in that second half, scoring three unanswered goals and getting the result."
 
The Cobras (1-0) trailed the Spartans (0-1) following a fourth-minute goal by the hosts, and the score remained 1-0 at halftime. Parkland fought back in the second half, pressuring ECC into conceding a penalty kick just four minutes into the half, and William Penn transfer Ron Naftali buried the shot to equalize. The Cobras finally netted the winner in the 82nd minute when freshman Shion Hayashi found sophomore Hibiki Mizutani - and Hayashi added an insurance goal of his own just one minute later, giving Parkland a season-opening 3-1 win.
 
"I was very impressed by the players that responded well to some tactical and personnel changes, especially Shion Hayashi, William Arana, Ron Naftali, and Logan Woodward," Sikora continued. "We have a very new team that, even though they have played a lot of soccer, some have not played enough yet at the college level, nor have they played enough with these teammates. All told, not our best outing and hopefully a better day tomorrow," Sikora concluded.
 
Scoring Summary:
ECC GOAL: 4th minute
            Halftime
PARKLAND GOAL: 50th minute – Ron Naftali (PK)
PARKLAND GOAL: 82nd minute – Hibiki Mizutani (Assisted by Shion Hayashi)
PARKLAND GOAL: 83rd minute – Shion Hayashi (Assisted by Hidenori Akasaka)
 
Up next, the Cobras return home and quickly turn around to host No. 9 Southeastern Community College tomorrow, August 20th, in Champaign. Kick-off against the Blackhawks (0-0) is scheduled for 3:30 PM on Sunday at the Parkland College Soccer Field.