The University of Redlands men's soccer team went on the road for an impressive 1-0 shutout victory in double overtime against Chapman University in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Wednesday.
The match opened up with a closely contested half that ended with a slim, 7-6 shot advantage for the Panthers. However, the Bulldogs executed more dangerous shots with three going on goal.
Early on, the Maroon and Gray orchestrated the first opportunity by unleashing consecutive shots from junior forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) and senior forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA).
A few minutes later, the Panthers managed to earn a corner kick but the Redlands defense stymied the home team's efforts by coming up with two blocks on the ensuing shots. The Bulldogs answered with their own corner kick that led to a header-shot from first-year forward Steve Acuña (Pico Rivera, CA) that was also blocked. Off of the rebound, senior midfielder Arman Mogharei (Hayward, CA) blasted a shot that forced the goalkeeper to come up with the save.
Sophomore goalkeeper Matteo DeFina (Livermore, CA) registered his first stop of the game off of a Panther attempt in the 26th minute. Although the Bulldogs' offense went quiet for the remainder of the half, their defense continued to come up with crucial stops, as the teams headed into the break in a scoreless stalemate.
The second half delivered similar results with both teams producing a high number of quality chances. Chonga opened the half with a quick shot that was blocked, which was followed by three unsuccessful attempts from the Panthers over the next six minutes.
It was the defense that continued to make plays for the Bulldogs, as the time wound down in regulation. Chapman took four shots in the final nine minutes, three of which were blocked, to kick the game into its first overtime.
The Maroon and Gray opened up extra time with a corner kick from junior defender Dylan Carlyle (San Jose, CA) that led to a quality shot from sophomore midfielder Collin ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR).
Off of a free kick from Chapman in the 94th minute, the Bulldog defense that included seniors Joey Kenney (Portland, OR), Nick DeQuiroz (San Jose, CA), Spencer Scott (Portland, OR), and Carlyle, made the necessary stops to keep the game alive. DeFina was challenged with one final attempt in the 99th minute, but he tallied another save to force the second overtime.
The Maroon and Gray took over the second overtime period with a 3-0 shot margin. The Bulldogs finally broke through when Mogharei sent the ball over the top to Parsa, who was headed toward the end line. Mogharei found open space in the center of the field at the top of the box, where Parsa redirected the ball back to him. Without hesitation, Mogharei one-timed a rocket from 18 yards out for the game-winning goal in the 105th minute.
The victory marks the Bulldogs' first road-win over Chapman in the last seven meetings and improves 14th-year Head Coach Ralph Perez's record against the Panthers to 10-7-1 in his career.
The Bulldogs (9-3-0, 7-2-0 SCIAC) return home on Saturday, October 13, to face Occidental College at 4 p.m. on Farquhar Field.