The No. 7 University of Redlands men's soccer team squared off against NCAA Division II's 15th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona in the Bulldogs' second and final exhibition match of the 2017 season on Sunday night under the lights of Farquhar Field. Amidst a back-and-forth battle, both teams played with intensity and excitement, with the contest ultimately ending in a high-scoring 4-4 draw.
The Broncos came out firing on all cylinders and immediately put up a goal just 29 seconds into the game. Their offense remained hot, as the visitors struck again at the 11:02-mark to force Redlands into an early hole.
However, this lit a spark within the Bulldogs that inspired a goal less than five minutes later. Senior midfielder Alexander Knox (Seattle, WA) received and settled a nice pass before blasting the ball into the far corner of the net to cut the deficit in half at 1-2.
After an inspiring halftime speech from Head Coach Ralph Perez, the Bulldogs went straight to work with a newfound energy. After eight scoreless minutes of the second stanza, junior midfielder Jesus Avalos (Indio, CA) controlled the ball at the top of the box, where he uncorked a shot past the diving Broncos' goalkeeper to tie the game at two apiece in the 54th minute.
Five minutes later, the Bulldogs subbed in sophomore forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) and sophomore midfielder Dylan Carlyle (San Jose, CA). Carlyle moved the ball to the left corner of the pitch and crossed it to the middle of the box, where Chonga managed to poke the ball into the lower-left corner of the net for Redlands' first lead of the game at 3-2.
Beginning at the 78-minute mark, Cal Poly Pomona upped the intensity and scored back-to-back goals off of deflections to overtake the lead once again at 4-3.
With a minute and a half left in the game and still trailing by one, the Bulldogs looked to senior defender Keoni Yates (Kailua-Kona, HI) to fire off a shot from 20 yards out that deflected off the goalkeeper's hands and slowly rolled to the back of the net for another Redlands equalizer.
The Broncos had one more chance to score, but senior goalkeeper John Melito (Keller, TX) made a nice save to preserve the 4-4 draw.
The Bulldogs are excited to travel to San Antonio, TX, later this week to take on a pair of quality NCAA Division III opponents in the University of Texas-Tyler and No. 12 Trinity University on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
