Box Score The University of Redlands men's soccer team registered a vital win on Monday night, defeating its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) rival, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, 3-1. In front of a strong contingent at Farquhar Field, three different Bulldogs scored en route to the two-goal triumph.
Playing with urgency from the start, Redlands jumped on top in the 8th minute when junior forward Charles Izydorek (Redlands, CA) received a through-ball from junior midfielder Matej Kustura (Las Vegas, NV), beat one defender and calmly slotted the ball into the bottom-right corner of the goal. For Izydorek, it was his team-best fourth goal on the campaign.
Eleven minutes later, Kustura served as the playmaker again and found senior forward Evan Keny-Guyer (Portland, OR) with a through-ball. Keny-Guyer took the opportunity and blasted the ball into the top-left corner of the net, doubling the Bulldogs' lead in the process.
Watch Keny-Guyer's goal and celebration here.
Izydorek almost made it 3-0 when he headed a ball towards goal in the 25th minute, but the ball pinged off the crossbar and out of bounds.
CMS threatened with a few opportunities of its own in the remainder of the first half, but U of R senior goalkeeper Andreas Silva (San Jose, CA) came up with a couple of big-time saves to keep the Stags off the board.
By the half, both teams had recorded nine shots and one corner-kick in a very back-and-forth contest.
The Maroon and Gray started the second half quickly, garnering a couple of close opportunities early in the stanza. Izydorek and freshman forward Matt Speegle (Castro Valley, CA) both had one-on-one opportunities with the Stag goalkeeper, but both shots were saved, keeping the score at 2-0.
CMS halved the deficit in the 83rd minute when freshman midfielder Mehron Abdi (Kenmore, WA) ripped a shot from just outside the 18-yard box into the top-right corner of the goal.
The U of R put the game out of reach in the 89th minute of play, however, when sophomore forward AJ VanderStaay (Bellingham, WA) received a flicked header from Izydorek and ripped a left-footed shot into the back of the net for his first score of the season.
Watch VanderStaay's goal here.
On the night, the Bulldogs were narrowly outshot by the Stags, 17-19, but Redlands held the advantage in shots-on-goal, 8-5. The Maroon and Gray also edged CMS in the corner-kick department, 3-2. Izydorek led the way for Redlands with five shots, while Kustura and Keny-Guyer both tallied three.
After the game, Kustura talked about why this was such a crucial win.
Redlands (5-2-0, 5-2-0 SCIAC) returns to action on Wednesday afternoon when it travels to Pasadena to take on the Beavers of Caltech. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
