by Max Zänker
Staff Writer
A weekend without celebration lies behind the University of La Verne soccer teams and their supporters.
The women’s and the men’s team both dropped their games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3-0 and 2-1, respectively, on Wednesday after returning from their doubleheader at Cal Lutheran on Saturday without scoring any goals.
In spite of the women bringing a 0-0 tie home after a strong defensive performance, the men dropped their game against Cal Lutheran, 4-0.
“Playing at Cal Lu is always tough,” said head coach Cres Gonzalez. “They are always prepared to give you a hard game and defend their home field.”
The Leopards never found a step into the game, as they were overwhelmed by the Kingsmen offense. Cal Lutheran cleared the standings already two minutes into the game, as senior Danny Ermolovich scored for the 1-0 lead.
Midfielder Adam Bustamante increased the lead to 2-0 only 10 minutes later and senior Havard Aschim scored in the 26th minute to make the halftime score 3-0.
“The first goal was very tough for us,” Gonzalez said. “But we played the rest of the game well; we played a tough second half and had many chances.”
The second half did not improve the Leopards’ situation, as they could not draw effort from their chances.
“It was hard to play, because there was a strong wind blowing and a lot of dirt on the field,” said midfielder Daniel Aguirre, who Gonzalez expects to become a “noticeable player” in the next season.
The Kingsmen’s performance was not influenced by the game’s circumstances, as midfielder Mark Olsen added another goal in the 76th minute for the final score of 4-0.
The Simi Valley wildfires did not influence the men’s game at Cal Lutheran.
“The air quality was good; We just had a strong wind,” Gonzalez said.
Instead, La Verne’s poor air quality influenced the soccer team’s training. The Leopards had to move practice inside, due to the high amount of ash in the air surrounding Ben Hines Field.
“This might not make a big physiological difference, it only might influence the players psychologically,” Gonzalez said. “It will not influence our performance. We still are in touch with the ball and that is everything we need at this point of the season. It even is a good time for some players to recuperate.”
The women’s game at Cal Lutheran suffered from the ashy air on the field. “It was a really bad air quality,” said defender Andrea Taggart. “We smelled the smog. It made our eyes burn and many players were coughing on the field. But both teams had the same circumstances, it was no one’s disadvantage.”
Four days later, the women’s soccer team lost their game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 3-0.
“We were trying hard and playing well, but they caught us on three bad moments,” said Taggart.
The men’s soccer team also suffered a loss against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Wednesday night at Ben Hines Field, 2-1.
On an assist from Aguirre, forward Steven Lane scored the only ULV goal of the week for the halftime lead in the 23rd minute.
Claremont came back on a goal by Rafael Chavez right after the teams had reentered the field and Claremont forward Joel Fleischmann added the final goal in the 85th minute.
The men’s and women’s teams compete in the final week of the season against Redlands tomorrow and Occidental Wednesday.
