The No. 7 University of Redlands men's soccer team completed its Texas trip on Sunday with a hard-fought game against No. 12 Trinity University. Despite battling back from a two-goal hole to make it 2-2, the Tigers made the necessary adjustments and upped the intensity to send Redlands home with a tough 2-4 loss.
Senior midfielder Alexander Knox (Seattle, WA) fired off the first shot of the game just four minutes into play, but it went wide. Both teams impressed with offensive pressure by earning corner kicks and taking multiple shots on goal, which forced both goalkeepers to make excellent saves.
The Tigers put one through the posts in the 30th minute and then again in the 31st minute, demanding Redlands to play out of a first-half hole.
In the 38th minute, junior midfielder Arman Mogharei (Hayward, CA) worked the ball to the Bulldogs' offensive third and served a nice pass to senior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR), who banged the ball into the back of the net to cut the deficit in half.
Despite quality looks late in the half, Redlands entered the halftime break with plenty of work still to do.
In the first 23 minutes of the second half, Redlands had a plethora of great chances, but a stingy Tiger defense made the saves or blocked the shots to keep the Bulldogs from tying the contest.
At the 76-minute mark, ChubbFertal put up a high ball that Knox headed towards the goal, but the Tigers made a quick team save. Amongst the scrum around the loose ball, Knox found his way through the crowd and tapped the ball past the line for the 2-2 equalizer.
Unfortunately for the visiting squad, this lit a fire within Trinity, which successfully put two more goals through the posts before the end of the game, sending Redlands home with a tough 2-4 loss.
The Bulldogs (0-2) look forward to opening Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play when they travel to Occidental College on Wednesday, September 6, for a 7 p.m. start against the Tigers.