The University of Redlands men's soccer team took on the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in a rare afternoon tilt on the road.  Despite an otherwise evenly-matched showdown, the Bulldogs came home with a 1-3 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) loss.

From the first whistle, the game flipped back and forth to either offensive third, with each team testing the other's goalkeeper early and often.  Junior forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) registered the first on-goal attempt for the Bulldogs in the 18th minute, while sophomore midfielder Antonio Chavez (Santa Ana, CA) fired off a shot on frame 10 minutes later.

The Maroon and Gray also earned three corner kicks in the first half but came up against a stingy Sagehen defense.  The teams headed into the halftime break in a scoreless stalemate.

Redlands upped the ante in the second stanza, earning more shots than the home team.  First-year midfielder Jonathan Cheung (Hong Kong, China) unleashed a bullet of a shot in the 55th minute, forcing the Sagehens to come up with a big save. Less than a minute later, first-year midfielder Avery Jacobson (Seattle WA) let loose on a quality attempt that bounced off the post.

However, Pomona-Pitzer managed to slip by the defense to put up two goals in a two-minute stretch midway into the second half.

Nonetheless, the Maroon and Gray immediately answered with a goal of its own in the 72nd minute. First-year forward Steve Acuña (Pico Rivera, CA) moved the ball down the flank and eagerly crossed it into the box, where senior midfielder Jesus Avalos (Indio, CA) tapped it into the back of the net to cut the deficit in half.

Chonga and Acuña contributed to the late barrage of good chances, but Redlands could not find the equalizer.

The Bulldogs won the corner-kick battle with a slight 5-4 advantage.  Of their 14 shots, eight landed on frame.

Redlands (5-3-0, 4-2-0 SCIAC) heads to Thousand Oaks for a 2:30 p.m. match against the Cal Lutheran University Kingsmen on Saturday, September 29.