The University of La Verne men’s soccer team failed to score for the third straight game, tying Occidental, 0-0, Saturday night at Ben Hines Field in La Verne.
The Leopards outshot the Tigers, 20-6, and had an advantage of 5-3 in corner kicks. Sophomore goalkeeper Cody Black had two saves.
“It was a must win to keep our hopes of winning SCIAC,” senior midfielder Brandon Emilio said.
ULV played without junior midfielder Gilad Hoffman who picked up two yellow cards at Wednesday’s game against Redlands.
Two yellow cards received in a previous game results in the suspension of the player from the next game.
The Leopards lost at home to the Bulldogs, 1-0, after Redlands scored during the second half off a corner kick with less than five minutes left in regulation time.
“We had many opportunities to score but for some reason we are still having trouble finding the net,” junior defenseman Jesse Rodriguez said.
The Leopards are currently in a three-way tie for third in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play trailing only Cal Lutheran and Redlands, who are both tied for first.
“It will turn heads when at the end of the season we are recognized as one of the top three teams in the conference,” Rodriguez said.
With a tie to Occidental, the Leopards offensive struggles continued, having not scored a goal in their last three SCIAC matches.
“We had a lot of chances but we couldn’t put any in the net,” Emilio said.
The Leopards continue SCIAC play at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Whittier.
Marilee Lorusso can be reached at mlorusso@ulv.edu.
