The No. 20 University of Redlands men's soccer team hosted the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament Championship match against the Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen on Saturday at Farquhar Field. Despite outshooting the Kingsmen 23-15, the Bulldogs could not capitalize on their chances and ultimately suffered a heartbreaking 1-2 loss in the 105th minute.
Senior goalkeeper Josh Haskill (Lakewood, CA) was tested early in the action, coming up with a stop at the 11:20-mark. Just minutes later, both teams took quality looks on goal, but both attempts were blocked.
Cal Lutheran goalkeeper Eduardo Garcia had to make his first save of the night when junior defender Joey Kenney (Portland, OR) headed the ball on goal in the 23rd minute. Redlands attempted more scoring opportunities throughout the half but jumped the line a little too soon to be called offside.
Play remained near the midfield for the majority of the first half, as both goalies only had to make one save.
Early on in the second stanza, Cal Lutheran's Christian Yepez converted a goal on a scramble off of a set piece for the 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute.
This lit a fire within the Bulldogs, as senior defender Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA), senior midfielder Casey ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR), and junior forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) all had opportunities to score the equalizer, with Parsa's going on goal and forcing the Kingsmen keeper to make the stop.
Late in the 66th minute, ChubbFertal and senior forward Chase Boone (Beaverton, OR) fired off a trio of shots, while sophomore forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) got in on the action by taking two shots in a five-minute span.
With only 10 minutes left to go in regulation, CLU was called for a handball in the box, which set up a penalty kick for the Bulldogs. In the high-pressure situation, Parsa converted it for the 1-1 equalizer.
Boone kept the pressure on high as he took two shots in the 87th minute, but Cal Lutheran's defenders managed to step in front of them to keep the score knotted at one apiece.
The Kingsmen got off to a quick start in the first overtime period, immediately testing Haskill, who stepped up to the challenge with two huge stops.
Redlands fed off of that defensive effort, as junior defender Spencer Scott (Beaverton, OR) and sophomore defender Matias Lazo-Fanning (Seattle, WA) worked the ball up into Redlands' offensive third. Senior forward Sergio Valencia (San Jose, CA), Boone, and ChubbFertal each had great looks towards goal in the last six minutes of the first overtime period but none went through the posts.
The Bulldogs' energy rolled over into the second overtime, with Valencia firing a shot on goal that the Kingsmen keeper managed to save. Junior midfielder Arman Mogharei (Hayward, CA) and ChubbFertal each had chances as well but could not convert.
Unfortunately for the home team, Cal Lutheran's Brandon Kearney put the game-winner through the posts off of an assist by Cody Collins in the 105th minute. With the win, the Kingsmen (12-4-2) secure the SCIAC Postseason Tournament Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Redlands (14-4-2) now awaits Monday's announcement from the NCAA with hopes of gaining one of the 19 at-large berths.
