The No. 25 University of Redlands men's soccer team met up with Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foe, Chapman University, for Wednesday night's match on Farquhar Field. Amidst aggressive play and a solid shooting display by the Bulldogs, only one goal found the back of the net on a penalty kick for the 1-0 conference victory.
The first 10 minutes of play seemed to be all Panther soccer, but Redlands quickly settled into a nice offensive rhythm that was highlighted by linking passes and quality adjustments. Senior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) ripped a beautiful shot in the 12th minute that unfortunately nicked the very bottom of the crossbar.
The home team continued to press and outshot Chapman, 9-3, in the first half. The defensive unit of senior Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA), junior Joey Kenney (Portland, OR), sophomore Matias Lazo-Fanning (Seattle, WA), and sophomore Dylan Carlyle (San Jose, CA) held the backline steady while limiting Chapman's chances in the opening 45 minutes.
Through a tough first-half battle, the teams entered halftime in a scoreless tie.
After an encouraging halftime talk from Head Coach Ralph Perez, the Bulldogs went back to work with determination and skill. Just two minutes into the second stanza, Boone took the ball into the box on a breakaway play but became tangled up with a Panther defender, resulting in a yellow card on Chapman and a penalty kick for Redlands. Junior forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) converted the opportunity by sending the ball past the diving Chapman goalkeeper for the 1-0 advantage and the eventual game-winner.
The Redlands offense didn't stop there, as sophomore forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) and senior forward Cameron Doody (Arvada, CO) each fired off exceptionally good looks on goal to keep the pressure on the Panthers.
While providing additional defensive support for the Maroon and Gray, junior Spencer Scott (Beaverton, OR) returned to action by stepping in with key minutes to help keep Chapman off the board, while senior goalkeeper John Melito (Keller, TX) came up with four nice saves to preserve the 1-0 win.
Redlands (7-3-0, 7-0-0 SCIAC) returns to action on Sunday, October 1, for a non-conference battle against UC Santa Cruz, starting at 5 p.m.
