THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - In a weekend Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) matchup against Whittier, the Cal Lutheran men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaker, 3-2 in double overtime against the Poets at Rolland Stadium.
The Kingsmen controlled possession early on in the match and nearly converted an opportunity in the 25th minute when Bryan Hulse lofted a ball to Brandon Kearney in the box. The SCIAC leading goal scorer tapped it through to the right corner but a Whittier defender cleared it away for the team save.
Just one minute later, the Poets pushed the ball into their attacking third and were awarded a free kick at the top of the box. Pablo Gomez drilled a shot to the top right corner of he goal for the first score of the game.
With five minutes left in the first half, Kearney raced across midfield with the ball and passed a through ball towards Nick Baldi on the left side. In a race between the Poets keeper and Baldi for the ball, the Kingsmen forward got there first and punched the ball into the back of the net for the equalizer.
With the score tied 1-1 at the half, CLU came out of the break looking to gain the upper hand. Just eight minutes into the second stanza, Tal Zaiet crossed a ball into Kearney who beat the defenders to the ball and headed it into the goal to give the Kingsmen a 2-1 lead.
CLU would hold on to its lead until the Poets stunned the crowd with an equalizer in the 87th minute to send the game into overtime. Gomez fed the ball to Jacob Conlon who shot it past the keeper to tie the game.
After a scoreless first overtime period, Conlon provided the golden goal for Whittier just three minutes into the second overtime to send the Poets home with a come-from-behind victory.
The Violet and Gold rifled off 38 shots in the game, the most since totaling 41 in a match against Caltech in 2009, whereas Whittier managed just nine shots in the game. CLU held an edge 8-2 in corner kicks and both teams recorded 11 fouls. Kearney led all players in the game with eight shots, Hulse totaled seven, Pedro Zaccarelli tallied six and Baldi finished with four. Gabe Naudin had a few close looks at goal and five other Kingsmen had at least one shot in the match.
Cal Lutheran (2-7-2, 2-5-1 SCIAC) continues its home-stand with a conference game against Pomona-Pitzer this Monday, Oct. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Box Score: WC 3, CLU 2 - 2OT
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