The University of Redlands men's soccer team scored two second-half goals to capture a 3-1 victory over the visiting Beavers of Caltech in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action on Wednesday night. With the win, the Bulldogs clinch a spot in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament as one of the top-four teams for the fifth consecutive time.
The Maroon and Gray applied plenty of offensive pressure throughout the match, earning 31 shots to Caltech's seven.
After two early attempts, the Maroon and Gray converted the third one, as junior defender Dylan Carlyle (San Jose, CA) slotted a perfect pass to junior forward Antony Chonga (San Diego, CA) just inside the box. Chonga immediately redirected the ball past the Beaver goalkeeper for the inaugural score of the game at the 3:39-mark.
Redlands remained persistent, with first-year forward Steve Acuña (Pico Rivera, CA), senior defender Nick DeQuiroz (San Jose, CA), and senior forward Kayvon Parsa (West Hills, CA) each firing off quality shots by the 10th minute.
Late in the 12th minute, senior midfielder Arman Mogharei (Hayward, CA) worked to get into position for a diving header that flew just wide.
The Maroon and Gray stayed hungry with a trio of shots in a two-minute span, including one by Chonga when he cut off a pass from the defense and broke towards goal. However, his shot drifted just wide of the post.
Caltech created some chances on long balls and counterattacks as well. The Beavers' patience paid off when they received a penalty kick on a foul in the box. Caltech converted it in the 30th minute to knot the score at one apiece.
Junior Emilio Raby-Newsom (Chicago, IL) took over for junior starter Noah Natividad (San Diego, CA) between the posts and immediately stepped up with a diving save to keep the score tied. Despite fresh feet throughout the field, the Bulldogs struggled to score another goal before the end of the half.
After a rousing halftime meeting, the Maroon and Gray looked to put Caltech away early on a quick, go-ahead goal from Parsa in the 47th minute. The opportunity arose when sophomore midfielder Collin ChubbFertal (Eugene, OR) unleashed a promising shot that was saved by Caltech's goalkeeper. Parsa was there to corral the rebound and blast it in from point-blank range for the Bulldogs' 2-0 lead.
Less than a minute later, Redlands gained possession and let loose on a pair of dangerous shots from Parsa and junior defender Dylan Carlyle (San Jose, CA) that were both blocked by the defense. Parsa nearly converted another goal in the 64th minute when he created two consecutive attempts off of a corner kick.
The Bulldogs benefited from being in the right place at the right time once again when ChubbFertal collected his own rebound and poked the ball past the goalkeeper to take a commanding a 3-1 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
Although Caltech threatened with a corner kick in the final minutes, the Redlands defense took care of business to clear the ball en route to the 3-1 victory.
Redlands (11-3, 9-2 SCIAC) hits the road for a pair of SCIAC matches, beginning with the University of La Verne on Saturday, October 20, at 7 p.m.