Stephanie Amaya
Staff Writer
The men’s soccer team beat the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, 2-0, on Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium to snap a four-match losing streak and open the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference season.
Over 100 people came to watch the match unfold under the hot afternoon sun. The excitement of the crowd from start to end was heard consistently for both sides.
The Leopards came out to fight on defense, setting the tone to compete with the Kingsmen in the first half of the match.
“It was a very complete game from start to finish,” head coach Trevor Persson said. “I don’t think there were too many hiccups in our performance, however there is always room for improvements.”
Persson noted that the team plans to watch films and track errors to get to the solution.
“From preseason to now, we knew these guys had opportunities for success.” Persson said. “We just didn’t execute, gave up a goal late, or lost our mark. It is the little details that we have been working on.”
The Leopards had 26 attempted shots with nine shots on goal and were able to convert for two goals. The Bastidas brothers, sophomore attacking midfielder Alexander Bastidas and junior center midfielder Anthony Bastidas, both scored their first goals of the season and senior goalkeeper Hector Duenas-Peña made five saves.
“The intensity to win was what drove us to succeed in today’s match,” graduate student defender Oscar Mendoza said. “We didn’t have the best preseason, but coming into SCIAC everyone is on the same level. It was something we really took pride in and came out victorious. Defense wins games and I feel like as long as we are doing our job defensively, offensively things will come, even if it might take a while.”
The Leopards’ defense kept the Kingsmen under tight reins throughout the game. Alexander Bastidas scored the first goal with an assist from senior attacking midfielder Adan Villarreal midway through the first half at 26:07.
“We were trying to either press high and send long balls and stick to our man and I felt that it was well executed in the first half, but in the second half we died down a little bit because of fatigue,” Alexander Bastidas said. “I was just really happy and excited when I scored, it was my first SCIAC goal as well, so it just felt really great to get the season opener for us, hopefully it’s one of many.”
After halftime, the Leopards were ahead of the Kingsmen, 1-0.
“We just talked about getting possession of the ball in different parts of the field and kind of breaking the field into three different zones and the importance of each player’s role in those zones,” Persson said.
He noted that the team needed to regroup and find strategies to plan for the season ahead.
“Being a smaller and not as physical presence up top, I felt that they were overpowering me in the beginning, but I just kept checking the ball towards my feet and playing to my strengths as a technical player,” Alexander Bastidas said.
The turning point of the game came in the second half when Anthony Bastidas scored another goal in the 60th minute extending their lead to 2-0, which they held onto for the remainder of the match.
“When I scored the goal I was in disbelief. It was my first SCIAC goal and I was feeling good in the moment and celebrated with the team,” Anthony Bastidas said.
Persson highlights the improvements the Leopards have made from their preseason games.
“We need to work on being proactive rather than reactive to the ball,” Persson said. “On the flipside the team is feeling really good about what we have been working on and finally seeing our work pay off.”
The Leopards are now 2-0 in SCIAC after a 2-1 win on the road Wednesday evening against the Whittier Poets, after putting up a record of 1-5 preseason.
They return home and look to make it three wins in a row at 7 p.m. Saturday against Caltech.
Stephanie Amaya can be reached at stephanie.amaya@laverne.edu.
Stephanie Amaya is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations and a staff photographer for the Campus Times. She has previously served as a staff writer.
Jonas Holt is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print and online journalism. He is sports editor of the Campus Times, a staff writer for La Verne Magazine and staff photographer for both publications. He has previously been a staff writer for the Campus Times.
