The No. 21 University of Redlands men's soccer team took on the Fontbonne University (MO) Griffins at Farquhar Field on Sunday to open the 2016 season. With relentless pursuit of the ball, the Bulldogs made the most of opportunity by earning a 4-0 non-conference victory with four different goal-scorers.
Amidst an enthusiastic home crowd, Redlands wasted no time in turning on the offense when junior defender Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI) fired off the home team's first shot only a minute and a half into the game.
At the 12-minute mark, junior midfielder Sergio Valencia (San Jose, CA) dished out the Maroon and Gray's first corner kick, which led to a header by junior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR). Fontbonne goalie Tony Pitaro made a diving block, which ricocheted back into the mouth of the goal. Scrambling in the box, sophomore forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) found the ball and tapped in Redlands' first goal of the game.
Although the Bulldogs did not score another in the first half, they kept the pressure on high, playing nearly the whole first half in Fontbonne territory. Junior midfielder Cameron Doody (Arvada, CO) and Parsa blasted off two more shots apiece before the buzzer sounded for halftime.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth aggressive play to open the second stanza, Valencia served up another picturesque corner that found junior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR), who headed it towards the goal. After a Fontbonne defender slid in to deflect the shot, Redlands junior defender Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA) banged in a shot for the score in the 53rd minute.
Just five minutes later, ChubbFertal joined the scoring frenzy by finding space in front of the goal and uncorking his first netter of the season.
During the final 30 minutes of the game, a multitude of Bulldog rookies saw their first collegiate minutes, with freshman forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) leading the charge by firing off two shots, with one going on-frame.
With fresh feet in the game, the team continued to press offensively. In the 83rd minute, sophomore midfielder Jesus Avalos (Indio, CA) sent one sailing past the diving goalie and into the back of the net for the team's fourth goal of the game.
With the help of the Bulldogs' stingy defense, junior goalkeeper Josh Haskill (Lakewood, CA) recorded his first shutout-win of the season without having to make a single save. Yates, Thompson, sophomore Spencer Scott (Beaverton, OR), and senior Austin Moore (Las Vegas, NV) set the tone early with a tenacious and physical presence along the defensive third.
The Bulldogs (1-0) jump right into Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action with Wednesday's 4 p.m. game in Pasadena against the Caltech Beavers.
