CLAREMONT, Calif. – The Cal Lutheran Kingsmen and Ponoma-Pitzer Sagehens went toe-to-toe and held the game gridlocked heading into the final minutes of the Saturday morning matchup before a late goal put the Kingsmen under 1-0 with less than five minutes left to play.
The Sagehens kept the Kingsmen on their toes with 19 shots on the day, 12 on goal. However, time and time again, sophomore keeper Antonio Welch stepped up with heroic saves to keep the game up for grabs. He finished with 11 saves, his second highest total of the season.
His offense produced six shots of their own, four on target. The first came from junior Joey Arnold with the opening shot of the contest less than two minutes into play. Senior Jared Pischke followed with two of his own, but neither could dent the back of the net.
The scoreboard held stalemate for the remainder of the first half and each team entered the second half looking for the game winner. Junior Alon Arnaldes ignited Cal Lutheran's offense in the second half with a shot straight through the defense, but the ball one-hopped straight into the chest of the keeper.
Welch came in with an imperative save seven minutes later in the 59th, making a diving save to his right to deflect a bullet from Bjorn Sigurdsson towards the left of the net.
The Kingsmen responded in the 66th minute with a cross from Arnold to freshman Igor Lumbrano who attempted to chip one in from shallow right but was saved by Pomona-Pitzer's Clay Hamilton in the middle of the goal line.
With less than ten on the clock, Cal Lutheran saw another opportunity thwarted by the defense. Arnold played a ball into the midfield for Pischke who played it back out for freshman Jose Olea on the left side. The forward then sprinted up the line and took it into the box himself before chipping the ball towards the penalty spot for Pischke. Though he got a touch on the ball, a Sagehen defender jumped just in time to intercept the finish and cleared the ball out of the box.
However, the Sagehens finally broke the gridlock in the 86th minute on Jack Arnold's finish from 20 yards out the left side that sailed past the outstretched Welch and into the top right corner of the net.
The 1-0 loss moves Cal Lutheran to 5-8-0 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The team remains on the road, taking on the Redlands Bulldogs next Saturday, October 27, in their final regular season match of the year.
Box Score: PP 1, CLU 0
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
