LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Following a long weekend trip to Santa Cruz the Cal Lutheran men's soccer team was back on the road this afternoon as they traveled to Occidental to resume league action. The teams nearly played to a scoreless draw in regulation to force overtime, but a late Tigers goal squashed that chance for the Kingsmen, who fell 1-0, playing man down for more than 86 minutes.
Early in the game a red card forced Kingsmen goalie Rey Rivera-Ramos to the sidelines as he ejected from the game after coming out of the cage to save an early Occidental breakaway. The infraction forced Cal Lutheran to sub in freshman Jack Duncan and play a man down for the remaining 86:14.
Duncan came up with eight saves in the game, but it was a header into the lower left corner of the cage in the 89th minute off a corner kick that ended the possibility of overtime for Cal Lutheran.
The teams were evenly matched in a physical game that saw 21 combined fouls and three cards, two yellow for the Tigers.
CLU certainly had its opportunities, however, firing off 12 shots. Only two were on goal with both Danny Kuntz and Matt Hubbard shooting at the cage. Cameron Rude led the offensive attack with four shots.
For the Kingsmen the defensive unit of Peter Keks, Thiago Gaglianone, Ivan Sanchez and Alex Wardle all guarded CLU territory for 90 minutes apiece.
Senior forward Raul Yepez also played the entire game for the Violet and Gold. Twenty-two different Kingsmen stepped out on the field today in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown.
Cal Lutheran (4-4, 2-2 SCIAC) will travel to Whittier on Saturday, Sept. 29 for a 7:00 p.m. start with the Poets.
Box Score: OXY 1, CLU 0
