LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Sept. 18, 2010) – Coming off a
conference opening win, the men's soccer team returned to
Occidental College where they hosted the University of La Verne in
their first night game of the season, before hundreds of fans. The
excitement generated from playing at the stadium was apparent in
the stands and on Patterson Field. It took nearly 105 minutes, but
it was the Leopards who celebrated on the turf, earning a 1-0
victory and sending the Tigers home winless after a hard fought
battle.
In a physical game, the teams combined for 35 fouls and three
yellow cards. La Verne managed to control the game offensively with
18 shots to Oxy's eight, but both defensive units performed
magnificently throughout the contest.
Occidental goalie Ian Powell
turned away seven Leo shots, but it was in the 114th
minute when he came out of the cage and ULV's Mahavi Mendoza
managed to push the ball past him into the net for the win.
ULV (1-3-1) goalie Jonathyn Lomeli kept the Tigers off the board
despite Oxy firing off five shots on goal. Two of those attempts
came off the foot of Deryck Lim while
Rob
Riccardi, Will
Moseley and Ian
Silverness each took a stab at scoring as well.
In his first game back from an injury CJ
Grigoriadis teamed up with the freshman duo of
Marcus
Brandford and Oliver Field
to man the backfield in the early goings. A cleat to the ankle
sidelined Field mid-way through the game and Reid
Sakamoto, Silverness and Lim all stepped up and
combined to fill the void.
The young Tigers continue to improve and show composure
throughout the course of each game.
Occidental (1-4, 1-1 SCIAC) will be back in Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Wednesday, Sept. 22
when they host the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags on the Lower Soccer
Field at 4:00 p.m.
Article by Tracy Maple, Sports Information Director
