The No. 13 University of Redlands men's soccer team took on the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University on Monday night in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) showdown under the lights of Farquhar Field. With stellar defensive play, the Bulldogs' first-half goal was enough to lift them to a 1-0 victory.
The teams evenly played the first few minutes of the contest, with the Maroon and Gray taking three shots and the Kingsmen firing off one.
Redlands' breakthrough came in the 17th minute, when junior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR) found the foot of junior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR), who uncorked a diagonal blast into the top-left corner of the goal.
Despite outshooting Cal Lu by a 10-2 margin, the Bulldogs clung to a 1-0 advantage at the halftime break.
The Kingsmen entered the second half with a vengeance, forcing Redlands to keep up the pressure and remain steadfast. Thanks to the strong backline of senior Austin Moore (Las Vegas, NV), juniors Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA) and Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI), and sophomore Spencer Scott (Beaverton, CA), Cal Lutheran failed to break through the barrier.
Redlands preserved the shutout through the final whistle, when junior goalkeeper John Melito (Keller, TX) made a massive, game-winning save to keep Cal Lu off the board. Melito acted as a brick wall between the posts, tallying six saves on the night.
Offensively, sophomore forward Kayvon Parsa led the team in shots by taking five of Redlands' 21.
The Bulldogs (12-2-0, 10-1-0 SCIAC) face the Caltech Beavers in an afternoon contest on Saturday, October 15, at 1 p.m. on Farquhar Field.
