Miguel Navarro
Staff Writer
The women’s soccer team faced off against the Cal Lutheran Regals on Saturday at Ortmayer Stadium and lost a hard-fought match, 1-0.
Coming off their first win of the season, the Leopards looked to continue their success against a nationally ranked opponent.
“I think a lot of teams in this league think we are this bad team and are underdogs… This shows we can hang and we absolutely could have won this game,” junior forward Natalie Kooba said.
The Leopards’ faithful came out to support the team, with over 100 fans attending. Throughout the match, the crowd chanted the players’ names and did what they could to motivate the team to victory.
Coming into the match, the Leopards knew limiting the Regals’ attack would be the key to the game. The Regals were coming off a 3-0 victory over Chapman where they had over 20 shots.
The Leopards began the match with physicality to match the energy of their opponents.
Although the Regals controlled time of possession, the Leopards cleared out many close chances on the defensive side of the ball.
The Regals had multiple corner kick opportunities that the Leopards survived, forcing them to reset their attack.
Finally, the Regals’ constant pressure was rewarded in the 41st minute when junior defender Payton Hahn scored an outside-the-box goal.
In their previous game against Redlands, the Leopards also trailed 1-0 going into the half and were trying to create another second-half comeback. During halftime, the team used the time to gather themselves and come out stronger for the rest of the game.
“I don’t know if it’s anything necessarily to say; I just think we have a lot more fight,” senior midfielder Kailey Kolesar said.
Kolesar said they knew what they had to do to get the job done.
Once the second half started, Kolesar and junior midfielder Lex Sahagian led the charge as the Leopards began creating opportunities for themselves. The energy shift on the field was evident. Their physical style allowed the Leopards to recover loose balls and led to more attacking opportunities.
“I want to give that effort for my team and play for the people next to me,” Kolesar said.
In the 62nd minute, the Leopards just missed a shot over the net that would have tied the game.
Throughout the second half, key saves from freshman goalkeeper Sophia Penaflor kept the game close.
In the final 15 minutes, the Regals did not allow a shot, and the game ended, 1-0.
Despite the loss, the Leopards held their own against a favored opponent. The defense was a bright spot as they limited the Regals to just nine shots.
“We had a lot of moving pieces today in our back line, and everyone who played did a really good job,” junior defender Jordyn Gallegos said. “We all wanted to shut them out, and we did a good job.”
The second-half performance was another highlight of the game for the Leopards. They created three close chances to get on the board that fell short.
For the Leopards, they said this game gave them the confidence that they can compete with any team in the conference.
“Cal Lu has always been a strong program, and not only did we hang with them, but we felt in control the whole second half,” senior defender Megan Sewell said.
The Leopards faced Whittier on the road Wednesday night and came away with a 1-0 victory.
La Verne now has a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record of 2-3 and an overall record of 2-6-1.
La Verne now has their eyes set on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 7 p.m. Saturday at Nakasone Field in Claremont.
Miguel Navarro can be reached at miguel.navarro@laverne.edu.
Miguel Navarro is a senior journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and is a staff writer for the Campus Times. He also serves as a broadcaster at the University of La Verne, and he hopes to one day work in sports media.
