THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Nearly tying the match on two occasions throughout the final minutes of Saturday's game, Cal Lutheran just could not record the one goal needed to force overtime as Occidental escaped Mt. Clef Stadium with a 2-1 win over the Kingsmen.
Box Score: OXY 2, CLU 1- F
Trailing 2-0 in the 64th minute after allowing Occidental forward John Richardson to score his second goal of the day, CLU midfielder Iggy Wagner responded two minutes later to cut the Tigers' lead back to a one-goal margin with 24 minutes still remaining in the game.
The goal was Wagner's first as a Kingsmen, earning his second assist of the season on the play was defender Enrique Zaragoza.
Responsible for seven of the final nine shots recorded in Saturday's SCIAC finale, Wagner's goal helped jump-start Cal Lutheran's offense as most of the action in those final 24 minutes took place on Occidental's half of the field.
Earning three of their eight corner kicks throughout that timespan, the Kingsmen almost tied the match on two occasions.
Josh Hibbert nearly helped midfielder Danny Kuntz earn his first assist of the season; turning Kuntz' corner kick into a one-time scoring opportunity, Tigers' goalkeeper Andrew Larkin could only stand and watch as Hibbert's shot deflected off a player's leg back into the field of play
Were it not for an Occidental defender who happened to be in the right place, at the right time, the Kingsmen would have tied the game at 2-2. Instead, Occidental recorded the last of its two team saves to preserve its 2-1 lead.
Finishing the day with four of his team's 24 shots, Cal Lutheran forward Raul Yepez nearly netted his sixth goal of the season moments later during his late-game, one-on-one scoring opportunity.
Forcing Larkin to make the first move on the play, Yepez was almost able to switch directions on a dime and flick his shot towards an open goal. Instead, the Occidental netminder was able to deflect Yepez' shot a split-second before both players collided into one another, forcing the ball to trickle out-of-bounds after deflecting off the left goalpost.
Led by Yepez, 12 different players recorded at least one shot in Saturday's game as the Kingsmen outshot their opponents by a 24-23 margin.
Setting a new season high for the second time in as many games, CLU goalkeeper Chris Holm finished his afternoon with nine saves.
Ending its SCIAC schedule in seventh place with a 3-11-0 conference record, Cal Lutheran (3-16-0) will compete in its final home game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 30, against UC Santa Cruz (8-8-0).
Kick-off at William Rolland Stadium will take place at 4 p.m.
