by Danny Craig
Staff Writer
The hopes of a season winning streak were broken Saturday for the University of La Verne men’s soccer team after a hard fought 1-0 defeat to the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Ben Hines Field.
“Today was overall the best game we’ve played,” said ULV head coach Shayon Jalayer. The men’s coach expressed a contentment with both halves played by the squad.
The first half of the Leopards-Stags matchup proved to be an exceptional display of athleticism from the La Verne offense.
With 13 shots at the CMS goalkeeper, La Verne clearly came at the Stags’ defense with full force.
Relying on freshman goalkeeper Robbie Turner for only four saves throughout the half, the Leopards’ defense evenly competed with the 15 shots on goal from the CMS offense.
Despite a noteworthy effort from both teams, the preliminary half of the match ended for both squads without a score.
The second half began the unfortunate tale for the Leopards when, two minutes into the period, CMS midfielder Randy Snow headed in the ball past Turner’s right side to score the Stag’s only goal.
Despite the 43 minutes remaining in the half and the 20 total game shots on the Stags’ goal, ULV failed to pull out a score. CMS would take the SCIAC win, bringing its record to 11-1-1, 7-0-1 in league.
“They had their chances to win, so did we,”said Stags head coach Louis Bilowitz in admiration of both teams’ performances. “I consider us pretty fortunate to win,” said Bilowitz.
“We’re one mistake away from competing at this level,” Jalayer said. Although content with the number of shots taken by his players, Jalayer expressed the increasing need for the squad to take on opponents on the field.
“In the past, they used to walk right over us,” said La Verne captain Jorge Macias, noting the annual improvement in the La Verne-CMS bout.
“We’re going up hills, and that’s good,” said Macias.
The SCIAC match brought the men’s soccer record to 4-9, 2-6 in conference.
Unfortunately for Macias and the Leopards in general, the hill took a downward turn last Wednesday during a 3-0 loss to Redlands.
Possibly out for the season with a knee injury from Monday’s practice, Macias witnessed from the sidelines what La Verne players described as a loss due to a late-game breakdown.
With five shots on goal fired at the Bulldogs’ defense early in the first half, the Leopards took an early aggressive stance with the opposition.
Along with the apparent aggression displayed in the first half came the infractions. The men’s squad was issued four of its five yellow cards in the first half.
“The first half is just intensity,” said freshman midfielder Nathan Chabolla, commenting on the source of the team’s infringements. Chabolla explained that in the second half however, “the frustration set in.”
Although an evenly played half with two saves for each goalkeeper, neither the Leopards nor the Bulldogs entered halftime with a score.
Coming into the second half with an open game, La Verne’s defense was hit early when Redlands midfielder Peter Ma headed in a goal for the Bulldogs. At seven minutes into the half, Ma’s goal was the first of three that would be scored for the La Verne opposition.
Nineteen minutes into the half, the second piece of the Redlands’ arsenal was fired when Bulldogs forward Riste Simnjanovski scored on a penalty shot to the make the score 2-0.
The third round hit the Leopards at the 75-minute mark when Redlands midfielder Mike Sundseth toed in a goal past Turner’s left side to set the game’s final score of 3-0.
“It’s just a matter of composure,” said Bulldogs head coach Rob Beccera, content with his team’s victory yet dismayed with the physical aspect of the game.
Jalayer, frustrated with the carding and second half performance of the Leopards, said, “Some guys just don’t want it bad enough.”
With their 2-7 SCIAC and 4-10 overall record, the men’s team will travel to take on third-place Cal Lutheran (9-6, 6-3 SCIAC) tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
