The University of Redlands men's soccer team began its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) schedule on Wednesday night, facing the University of La Verne Leopards under the lights at Farquhar Field. Despite multiple scoring opportunities and a continued offensive push, the Bulldogs fell to the Leopards in a 1-2 decision.

The first goal of the contest came in the 16th minute when the Leopards lofted a cross toward the far post for an intended header. However, the pass knocked off a Bulldog defender into the goal, giving ULV the early lead.

From this point on, the Bulldogs looked to tie up the score with a relentless offensive assault that included 10 shots from a combined six Bulldogs during the opening frame. Three minutes after the unfortunate score, freshman defender Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA) uncorked a shot, but the ULV goalkeeper came up with the stop. Freshman forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) fired off two of the Maroon and Gray's first-half shots. In addition, senior forwards Matej Kustura (Las Vegas, NV), Grahame Fitz (Palo Alto, CA), and Charles Izydorek (Redlands, CA) each had good looks at the Leopard net. Finally, junior midfielder Peter Marsden (Woodside, CA) and freshman midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR) provided one shot a piece.

During the second period, the Bulldogs halted the ULV scoring until the 56th-minute. Freshman goalkeeper John Melito (Portland, OR) made an excellent save on the original attempt, but ULV took advantage of a second-chance opportunity that left the Bulldogs facing a two-goal deficit.

Less than two minutes later, the Maroon and Gray pulled one back with a goal off the foot of Kustura. After Izydorek threaded the needle and angled a through-ball between two ULV defenders, Kustura evaded the final Leopard before finishing the shot into the back of the net, bringing the score to 2-1.

Despite the second-period goal, the Bulldogs struggled to capitalize off four more scoring opportunities in the half, resulting in the opening SCIAC loss.

Junior forward Pat Roraff (Redlands, CA) registered a solid night for the Bulldogs, as he fired off two shots and played solid defense throughout the contest. Boone and ChubbFertal blasted three shots each.

As a team, Redlands tallied a combined 19 shots, seven of which were on target. La Verne came up with just eight shots on the night.

The Bulldogs (1-4-0, 0-1-0 SCIAC) look forward to Saturday, September 13, when they face Caltech in a 1 p.m. SCIAC match on Farquhar Field.