LA VERNE, Calif. – Though senior Jared Pischke finally found the back of the net for the first time this season with his equalizing goal early in the second half, the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen dropped a heartbreaker to the La Verne Leopards 2-1 in overtime, Wednesday night.
The Kingsmen struggled early to find scoring opportunities, only notching two shots by junior Joey Arnold in entire first 45 minutes. On the other hand, La Verne managed five shots, including one that found its way between the posts for a Leopard goal in the 33rd minute by Salvador Ortega.
The Cal Lutheran offense responded, however, with eight shots in the second half sparked by Pischke's equalizer less than two minutes into play.
Though the initial cross from the right side was headed out by a La Verne defender, Arnold was in perfect location to recollect the ball. The forward then beat out two defenders to find an open Pischke who ran five yards up the right side before nailing the ball to the far-left post past a diving keeper.
Overall, Pishke led the team with five shots, two on target, while sophomore Jake Rast and Arnold contributed the Kingsmen's two other shots on goal for the night.
That would be it for regulation as the Kingsmen's remaining two shots on goal in full time found the hands of Leopard keeper, Tristan Polakowski, who finished with three saves on the night. In contrast, CLU keeper, sophomore Antonio Welch, added four saves for the purple and gold.
Still tied 1-1 after 90 minutes, the teams entered a 10-minute golden goal period. While Cal Lutheran threatened with a throw in from freshman Evan Zamora to Jose Olea in the 93rd minute, the attempt was called offsides.
The momentum would shift towards La Verne to end the game, though, as Christopher Wong scored his tenth career goal for the Leopards, threading the needle to the back-left corner with just one second remaining in the first overtime period to lock up the Leopards' win.
The Kingsmen look to bounce back on Saturday, September 15, on the road against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags at 7 p.m.
Box Score: LV 2, CLU 1
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
