The No. 11/18 University of Redlands men's soccer team squared off against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Stags in an early battle for first place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) on Wednesday evening under the lights at Farquhar Field. After the teams traded goals in a matter of minutes, the Bulldogs secured the 2-1 win with a successful penalty shot by junior forward Alexander Knox (Seattle, WA), which providing the necessary edge for the hard-fought and physical victory.
In the first stanza, the Maroon and Gray earned four corner kicks, as junior midfielder Sergio Valencia (San Jose, CA) served up two great crosses, and senior midfielder Isaac Bogart (Lynden, WA) and junior midfielder Cameron Doody (Arvada, CO) dished out one apiece. Despite outshooting the Stags, 7-2, in the first frame, the Bulldogs entered halftime without a goal.
Redlands came out in the second half with a new sense of determination, as sophomore forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) and Doody each quickly blasted off shots in consecutive fashion. Directly after those two shots, Doody gathered the ball and passed it off to junior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR), who took one touch past the goalie and tapped it in for the Bulldogs' 1-0 lead in the 48th minute.
Soon after, the Stags garnered a corner kick, which bounced off of many feet in front of the goal before CMS defender Jacob Skoll netted it past Redlands' diving goalkeeper, junior Josh Haskill (Lakewood, CA), to even the count.
Haskill went on to make a key save later in the game to hold the Stags to just one score.
With the game tied, both teams played with great urgency. In the 71st minute, freshman forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) raced the ball into the Stags' box, where he was fouled and the CMS defender was booked with a yellow card. Knox knocked the ensuing penalty shot into the bottom-right corner of the net for the Bulldogs' eventual game-winner.
Overall, Redlands dominated the corner-kick chances by earning eight to CMS' two. In addition, the home team fired off 16 shots, six of which were on-goal.
The Bulldogs (5-0-0, 3-0-0 SCIAC) look forward to a non-conference game against No. 8/7 Christopher Newport University (VA) on Friday, September 16, at 5 p.m. on Farquhar Field.
