THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — California Lutheran's Joey Arnold scored a career-high five goals as the Kingsmen soccer team defeated the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens 5-2 Wednesday evening for the nightcap inside William Rolland Stadium. The Regals won in the first match as they defeated Occidental 2-1.
With the win, the Kingsmen moved into second-place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings with a record of 8-2-1. Overall, the Violet and Gold are 10-3-1.
The Kingsmen had a pair of shots near the goal early on, but both teams took awhile to find their footing. In the 31st minute, the Saghens marched down the field as Aidan Ferrer drove the ball over Eduardo Garcia's outstretched hands into the top right corner of the net and Pomona-Pitzer had a 1-0 lead.
Not even four minutes later, Danny Pacheco took a corner kick for the Kingsmen and landed it in the box where the ball eventually found the foot of Arnold, who fired it into the back of the net to even the score. The goal fired up the Kingsmen spurring another pair of shots by Pacheco and Arnold, but neither player was able to find the net.
The Sagehens forced the issue late in the first half, but Garcia saved the shot on goal to keep the score even.
The Sagehens broke the tie in the second half when Bjorn Sigurdsson found the head of Jacob Merkle who directed the ball into the net. The Kingsmen tried to even it back up with a free kick of their own, but Cristian Yepez kicked it right to the goalie.
In the 67th minute, Arnold received a rebound off the Sagehens' goalie and sent it into the back of the net tying up the game at 2-2. Arnold had another opportunity to put the Kingsmen ahead, but a slow roller bounced off the post.
Arnold completed a hat-trick and broke the tie in the 72nd minute. He took a shot on goal, which was blocked. He followed up his shot and headed in the rebound. Ferrer got a chance to tie it up late in the second half for Pomona-Pitzer, but Garcia tipped it over the crossbar forcing a corner.
Arnold continued his success on the night and scored his fourth goal of the night in the 82nd minute. Just over a minute later, Arnold scored his fifth and final goal to put the Kingsmen up 5-2.
Cal Lutheran continues the season at home as the Kingsmen welcome the first-place team in the SCIAC, Redlands, into Rolland Stadium Saturday for a match at 2 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 5, PP 2
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Assistant Sports Information Director / Makenna Pellerin (Sports Information Intern)
