THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran Women's soccer team overcame a slow start to defeat the La Verne Leopards 1-0 Wednesday night at Rolland Stadium. Senior midfielder Lindsay Armenta converted on a free kick from just outside the penalty box in the 22nd minute for the game winner. The Regals are now 1-0 in the SCIAC and improve to 4-1, including their fourth win in a row, on the season.
Sloppy play plagued the earlier stages of the game for the Regals as La Verne dominated possession. "Obviously we did enough to win to the game but I was a little disappointed in the way we played," Head Coach Frank Marino said.
"But I give our girls credit, they hung in there and stuck it out." Marino continued, "Give credit to La Verne too, those girls played very hard tonight."
The Regals would have to wait until the 33rd minute to get their first scoring chance when junior defender Anna Medler's header off a corner just sailed over the cross-bar.
Cal Lutheran began to formulate more of an organized attack as the first half went on. In the 29th minute, after a shot by Mayra Virgen deflected off the goalie, sophomore Taylor Will just pushed a header wide to narrowly miss a goal.
"I thought as the game went on we started to play better and get in a rhythm." Marino said. "Hopefully we can build upon that going forward."
In the 22nd minute after a hard foul 25 yards from the goal, Armenta skillfully curved in a shot for the game's only goal.
One of the Regals most promising attacks occurred under the duress of the first half ticking down. On a perfect through ball by freshman Will with three seconds on the clock, Melissa Abdelkerim and the La Verne goalkeeper collided and watched the ball trickle away right as the first half horn sounded.
In the second half as frustrations grew, so did the fouls. Two yellow cards were given out and 13 total fouls were called.
Marino wasn't surprised as to how the game shaped out, "It was a tight match and both teams wanted to win." He continued, "That stuff happens when the game is close but I was happy to see our players stay within themselves and come out with a W."
The Regals nearly made it 2-0 in the 89th minute when senior midfielder Kristin Cameron fired a high, arching shot from 35 yards out that nicked the top of the cross bar and went out of bounds.
CLU finished with 15 shots, including three from Will. Goalkeeper Kristin Bailey and her defensive mates of Kristen DiPippo, Stephanie Gilbert, Medler, and Mallory Carcich notched their third straight shutout, allowing La Verne only four total shots.
The Regals continue SCIAC play this Saturday Sept. 15, when they to Redlands and kickoff against Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 1 La Verne 0
