Emma Yogan
Staff Writer
The La Verne men’s soccer team overcame a halftime deficit to beat the Whittier Poets, 3-1, Wednesday at Ortmayer Stadium.
Both teams took shots early in the game as they looked for opportunities to take the lead. The Poets scored early on in the 16th minute on a goal by redshirt forward Fabian Gluch on an assist by junior defender Jack Hindmarsh.
The Leopards fought to find a scoring opportunity but ultimately did not score any points in the first half. On the defensive side, Joshua Simonton, senior goalkeeper, played aggressively against the Poets’ offense, allowing the Leopards to keep them at a 1-0 score heading into halftime.
“We had to defend a lot more in the second half, and just stay true to our roles and staying compact as a team is what I saw,” junior midfielder Joel Trejo said.
Julian Arellano, junior defender, said that energy was a big component to their win.
“Communication in the first half was pretty low, but once we started communicating on and off the field, it started looking a lot better,” Arellano said.
In the 57th minute, Trejo scored the tying goal of the game.
“Their team had caused the free kick on top of the box, so I stepped out for it and felt pretty confident going into the shot, and it went in,” Trejo said.
In the 70th minutes, senior midfielder Alexander Bastidas scored the Leopards’ second goal off of a penalty kick.
“I was really confident when I scored, and I had my team behind me,” Bastidas said. “Obviously we were down 1-0, but then the second half, especially toward the end when we got the third goal, I feel like we executed our game plan.”
Senior forward Diego Soto scored the third and final point by heading the ball into the goal, pulling the Leopards even further ahead of the Poets, 3-1.
“We’ve been struggling with injuries and with matching their energy, so we figured if we could just get massive intensity and stay in the game close enough that our bench could help us,” head coach Drew Rea said. “The bench is incredible, we got five or six guys that haven’t played all year and got in on the field and contributed to the win.”
The victory over the Poets helped the Leopards move their overall record to 4-2-4 and their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record to 2-1-2.
Next, La Verne will play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium.
Emma Yogan can be reached at emma.yogan@laverne.edu.
Emma Yogan is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is a member of the University of La Verne’s women’s volleyball team and a staff writer for the Campus Times.
Jasmine Lyn is a sophomore photography major and photography editor for the Campus Times. She is also a staff photographer for La Verne Magazine and a former staff photographer for the Campus Times. Her work can also be found at Jazzylyn.com
