THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— The California Lutheran University men's soccer team had their three-game win streak snapped Saturday afternoon at William Rolland Stadium, falling to Occidental 2-1 despite scoring the opening goal.
The visitors held little possession throughout the match but found success in their counter-attacking opportunities, out-shooting CLU 11-4 on the day. The hosts held the advantage in corners (7-6) attempting to make the most of their set pieces.
The Kingsmen came out lively in the attacking third and quickly scored the opening goal in the 23rd minute after winning a penalty. CLU was awarded a penalty after a corner whipped in by Matt Myers found a dangerous area and forced the Occidental goalkeeper to foul a Kingsmen attacker in the box. Igor Lumbrano would step up to take the penalty and blast his spot kick into the back of the net to give his team an early 1-0 lead.
The Tigers were quick to equalize, however, leveling the score through a Cal Lutheran own goal in the 32nd minute, just 10 minutes after the opening goal. Occidental launched a long throw into the box and the ball found its way into the back of the net via CLU's goalkeeper.
Cal Lutheran nearly regained their lead when Adrian Graciano was presented an opportunity from a cross, but his headed effort would sail just past the post in the 37th minute.
After a hotly contested first 45 minutes, the teams would head into the break level at 1-1.
Shortly after the halftime kickoff, the Tigers managed to develop a solid attacking sequence, finding their way through on goal in the 57th minute. Occidental's attacker was one-on-one with the Cal Lutheran goalkeeper and after some quick dribbling, drew a foul in the box. Adrian Paredes stepped up to the spot and slotted his penalty home to give his team a 2-1 lead.
With the clock ticking, the Kingsmen made a couple more attacking moves in an attempt tie the game. Juan Valencia nearly found the equalizer in the 81st minute when he found himself in a one-on-one opportunity, but his shot was expertly saved by the goalkeeper.
Winning one last corner in the dying seconds, Erik Mejia rose above the defense and struck his header off the crossbar and the Kingsmen would unfortunately have to accept their 2-1 defeat.
Cal Lutheran will look to get back to their winning ways when they travel to La Verne Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 1, OXY 2
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Release by Jeff Rebello, Assistant Sports Information Director
