LA VERNE, Calif. - A pair of first half goals helped the Kingsmen soccer team earn their first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) victory of the fall tonight on the road at the new Ortmayer Stadium on the campus of La Verne. Cal Lutheran staved off the Leopards for a 3-1 win.

The Violet and Gold struck first when Danny Kuntz scored the first goal of his senior campaign in the 11th minute. The Kingsmen doubled their lead in the 43rd minute when CLU defender Peter Keks took a shot that ricocheted off a La Verne player and past the Leos keeper increasing the CLU advantage to 2-0.

Only 20 seconds later ULV retaliated as Mike Reed broke away from a group of CLU defenders to cut the Kingsmen lead in half just before the intermission.

La Verne may have stolen the momentum at the end of the opening half, but senior defender Enrique Zaragoza converted a penalty kick to again push their lead to two at 3-1.

CLU starting goalie Rey Rivera-Ramos preserved the two-score lead with a diving stop in the 79th minute on a ULV penalty kick, the final Leos opportunity of the night.

The Kingsmen fought on defense and won the ball to give themselves scoring opportunities throughout.

"It felt great to score tonight, especially so early in the game, because that put La Verne in a position to chase us" Kuntz said after the contest. "We rose to the occasion tonight. It was a team victory," he went on, "Every single person contributed, on and off the field. We are a team hungry with 'banner envy' and we expect to win games this year."

Cal Lutheran (3-2, 1-1 SCIAC) will be home next Wednesday, Sept. 19 to host the Caltech Beavers at 7:00 p.m. in Rolland Stadium.

Box Score: CLU 3, ULV 1