The University of Redlands men's soccer team defeated Chapman University for the first time since September 24, 2007, winning by a final score of 2-0 on Saturday evening. The victory marks the fourth straight triumph of the season for the Maroon and Gray, which now sits just two points out of first place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings.
If not for a an early save by Bulldog junior goalkeeper Andreas Silva (San Jose, CA), Redlands could have faced a deficit just seconds into the contest. After Panther senior forward Mauricio Alfonso (Woodland Hills, CA) got behind the Bulldogs' defense, he ripped a shot that Silva was able to parry away, keeping the score level at zero.
Redlands had a golden opportunity to take the lead 15 minutes into the match when sophomore midfielder Matej Kustura (Las Vegas, NV) played a crisp through-ball to sophomore forward Charles Izydorek (Redlands, CA), who broke by the Panthers' defense. Izydorek tried to slot it past the goalkeeper but had his shot saved.
Izydorek and Kustura combined for the first goal of the game just 12 minutes later, however, when Izydorek laid off a nice pass to Kustura, who blasted the ball into the back of the net from 12 yards out to give Redlands the one-goal lead.
The sophomore duo dissected the Panther defense once again, this time in the 34th minute when Kustura hit a perfectly-weighted through-ball to Izydorek, who got the better of the Panthers' goalkeeper this time, scoring his team-leading sixth goal of the campaign.
Up 2-0 at the break, the Maroon and Gray appeared to be extending the lead to three in the second stanza when senior forward Alex Laughton (Pleasanton, CA) had a penalty kick, but Panther freshman goalkeeper Dean Meltz (Johannesburg, South Africa) made the save. On the follow-up from the save, junior defender Evan Keny-Guyer (Portland, OR) had his point-blank shot stopped as well.
On the game, Redlands out-shot Chapman, 31-15, and held the advantage in corner kicks, 8-5.
Silva picked up his eighth win of the season, going the full 90 minutes while tallying six important saves to help preserve the shutout.
Redlands (8-4-3, 7-2-2) returns to action when it travels to Cal Lutheran University on Monday evening. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
