by Ramzi Rabadi
Staff Writer
It was a bad week for the University of La Verne men’s soccer team, which lost to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7-1, on Saturday, and again to Redlands on Wednesday, 2-0.
“We played terrible, not as a team, not by fundamentals,” junior defensemen Rudy Gutierrez said. “For us to win, we must gel.”
The two losses move the Leopards to 2-2 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play and 2-8-1 overall.
The Leopards were also shorthanded in their game Saturday without junior midfielder Armando Hernandez and Gutierrez.
“Claremont has a lot depth. We’re not deep at all and that hurts,” Leopards head coach Mike Collins said, referring to Hernandez sitting out, due to a red card against Caltech and Gutierrrez missing due to a death in his family.
“We were underpowered, underconfident, we were mentally out of it. We were intimidated,” junior goalie Jon Tunstall said. “Technically we did not play a good game.”
The Leopards continued to play inconsistent by losing its second game in a row, which was against the Bulldogs after winning its first two SCIAC games.
“We played bad, this will be the worst team we will play all year,” Tunstall said, referring to the Bulldogs.
“We cannot pinpoint one thing that is wrong. We’re in a rut,” he said.
According to Collins, everyone finish the season, but “they’re not 100 percent back,” due to bumps and bruises.
“I have had different bumps and bruises all season,” said Tunstall.
The Leopards return to the field tomorrow at Cal Lutheran at 11 a.m.
“We’re hoping for a top bracket in the playoff bracket. I want people to see we’ve come a long a way,” Collins said.
Tunstall agreed.
“Our definite goal is the playoffs and to win,” he said.
A win tomorrow by the Leopards will help their chances for a top bracket in the SCIAC tournament that starts Nov. 1.
“As a whole were not playing as a team, [but] we have the potential,” Gutierrez said.
On Tuesday, the Leopards will play Pomona-Pitzer at Claremont at 4 p.m.
