THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Five days ago the Cal Lutheran men's soccer team traveled to Redlands where the home squad left victorious. Tonight, the Bulldogs made their way to Rolland Stadium where the Kingsmen hoped to return the favor. Unfortunately it was UR who repeated the feat, defeating CLU by the slimmest of margins at 1-0 for the second time in a week.
Cal Lutheran came out fired up and controlled the momentum throughout the majority of the opening half. The Kingsmen fired off 10 shots and earned five corner kicks, keeping the Redlands defense active.
Nearly through the opening period unscathed, the Kingsmen saw that scoreless game broken up when the Bulldogs struck first. In the 40th minute a UR player dribbled the ball in front of the net and when CLU keeper Rey Rivera-Ramos went to the ground to smother the ball, it was tipped out of reach where AJ VanderStaay collected the loose ball and tapped it into the bottom left corner of the cage.
After the break a tenacious Kingsmen squad came back onto the field.
In the 61st minute after another CLU corner kick Kyle Fleming nearly bicycle kicked the ball over the head of the UR goalie into the net, but it was just high, clearing the crossbar by inches to leave the Kingsmen at a 1-0 deficit. The crowd, that was loud and into the game, breathed a sigh and repeated that collective gasp as Yepez and Matt Hubbard had another opportunity in a 2-on-1 situation that CLU was unable to convert ten minutes later.
Late in the second stanza Yepez again used his quick feet and ball control to set up a shot from Fleming, who forced the UR goalie to make a diving stop.
Down the stretch, in the final minute of play, CLU had its chances, but UR defenders cleared the ball out of Bulldogs territory to squash any chances for a Kingsmen comeback.
CLU took one more shot, 14, than UR's 13 and had more corner kicks with seven, to the Bulldogs three. Fleming, who played the entire game and Yepez tied to lead all players with three shots, two on goal, apiece. Peter Keks also took two shots for CLU tonight.
Defensively, Rivera-Ramos played all 90 minutes in front of the cage, making five saves. Also playing the entire contest were Keks, Thiago Gaglianone, Ivan Sanchez, Alex Wardle and Enrique Zaragoza.
Cal Lutheran (7-9, 5-7 SCIAC) is off for the rest of the week. The Kingsmen will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 20 when they host Whittier in a 7:00 p.m. Homecoming SCIAC showdown game.
Box Score: UR 1, CLU 0
