The No. 15 University of Redlands men's soccer team secured the three-peat of the regular-season Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship with Saturday night's 4-0 win over the visiting Tigers of Occidental College on Farquhar Field. While needing just one more win to capture the program's 13th conference title in the last 16 years, eight of which have come under Head Coach Ralph Perez, the Bulldogs took care of business in fine fashion to celebrate their seniors in style.
After recognizing the contributions of seniors Matt Speegle (Castro Valley, CA), Jared Bales (Issaquah, WA), Colin Zaccagnio (Phoenix, AZ), Isaac Bogart (Lynden, WA), and Austin Moore (Las Vegas, NV) in a short pregame ceremony, Redlands came out firing, amassing 11 first-half shots in an assertive and creative style of play in the offensive third.
In the 21st minute, Cameron Doody uncorked back-to-back attempts, with his second hitting the post. Second later, the Bulldogs jumped on the board when junior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR) launched a perfectly placed throw-in across the field and found the head of sophomore forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA), who headed it to junior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) for the first score of the game.
With less than five minutes left in the first half, Redlands gained a penalty-kick opportunity when freshman forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) was fouled in the box on a sweet breakaway. Junior forward Alexander Knox (Seattle, WA) converted his fourth such opportunity this season for the Maroon and Gray's 2-0 lead.
Late in the opening frame, Chonga blasted off a ridiculous shot from outside of the box, forcing the Tiger goalkeeper to make a miraculous save.
With the title on the line, Redlands refused to slip into complacency during the second half, as Boone took advantage of opportunity off of a scramble in front of the mouth of the goal following a corner kick in the 54th minute.
Leading 3-0, the Bulldogs used the time to show off its depth and talent with a total-team effort, including Speegle as a speedy forward off the bench. With sophomore defender Nick DeQuiroz (San Jose, CA) taking a corner kick in the 83rd minute, Speegle powered his way through the box to knock in the Maroon and Gray's fourth goal of the game and the third of his career.
For the remaining eight minutes, the Bulldogs controlled the pace of play and maintained possession through the final whistle, before erupting in celebratory cheers for the SCIAC regular season championship.
Accompanied by a stingy backline, junior goalkeeper John Melito (Keller, TX) earned the shutout after making four saves in a full-game effort. Junior defenders Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI) and Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA) provided fantastic support and leadership for the Bulldog defensive unit.
Redlands (14-5-0, 12-4-0 SCIAC) looks forward to hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Thursday, November 3, in the semifinal of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament at 7 p.m. on Farquhar Field.
