by Gloria Diaz
Arts & Entertainment Editor
On Wednesday, the University of La Verne men’s soccer team looked to gain its third win of the season against the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference first-place team, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Head coach Cres Gonzalez and the Leopards stepped into the game with a counter attack system that proved to be unsuccessful in the end.
The Stags’ Eric Henderson put the Leopards to the test as he managed to slip the ball past ULV’s starting goalie Louis Mendoza to score two goals in the 17th and 23rd minutes of the first half. The score remained 2-0 throughout the first half.
In the second half, CMS scored in the 17th minute, giving the Stags a 3-0 lead, which would end the Leopards’ two- game winning streak.
Mendoza blocked six of the nine shots taken by CMS. Currently, the Leopards have a 2-3 record in SCIAC, while the Stags remain undefeated in the conference.
Saturday, the ULV faced off against Cal Tech, gaining their second win of the 2002 season.
Although ULV missed many scoring chances, the Leopards still managed to hold onto the lead with the help of midfielder Josh Miller.
The first goal came from Miller in the 34th minute of the first half.
The Beavers would try to put themselves on the scoreboard, but were unable to get the ball past senior goalkeeper Derek Ramirez.
Shortly into the second half, Miller would once again put away another goal in the 6th minute, thus bringing the score to 2-0.
The last 10 minutes of the game brought a fight over the ball as the Beavers scored with seven minutes left and Miller scoring in the last minute.
The Leopards ended the game with a 3-1 win over the Beavers.
Another noteworthy player of the game was sophomore Alex Rodriguez, who has done extremely well as a midfielder.
“As long as he keeps his play and continues to find the ball he’s going to be a tremendous help to the team,” Gonzalez said.
“My belief is that, every game you play, you play it with the idea that you are going to win, not with the idea that you are going to lose. If you approach it that way, then you have already been defeated.”
The Leopards will travel to Redlands to go up against the defending conference champion Bulldogs at 11 a.m. tomorrow.
Redlands played for the NCAA Division III title in 2001 but finished second.
