REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Men's Soccer team (5-6-4, 3-3-3 SCIAC) picked up a huge three points at Whittier College Saturday evening thanks to a hat trick by Zachary Darmanyan (San Diego, CA) lifting the Bulldogs to a 3-1 victory.
This is the first hat trick to occur for the Bulldogs since 2023 when Jarette Barajas did it against Vanguard University with all three tallies coming in the second half.
Redlands had an early look from Ronnie Santos (Los Angeles, CA) who fired off a shot that was saved, Darmanyan then followed putting one away in the eighth minute.
Brady Bachman (San Diego, CA) sent a long ball over the top where Anders Beckton (Seattle, WA) headed it forward to Darmanyan. He then dribbled past a pair of Poet defenders and slotted it low on the ground past the keeper.
A minute later Darmanyan had a shot saved before taking the rebound and making it 2-0. Benjamin Evans (Bend, OR) sent a long throw into the box. It found Beckton's foot, which then deflected to Darmanyan who then scored on the second chance from about 12 yards out.
Hunter Byrne (Arvada, CO) and Beckton both forced a save in the 23rd and 33rd minutes and Bachman made four saves the rest of the half to maintain the 2-0 U of R lead.
Both keepers made early saves in the second half before the Poets pulled within one, 2-1, in the 83rd minute. The one-goal lead lasted less than two minutes though as Evans found Darmanyan for a 3-1 lead in the 85th minute. Evans got the assist on another one of his patented long throws.
It was an action-packed game with 32 total shots (11-21), 16 shots on goal (8-8), six corners (2-4), 16 fouls (10-6), and five yellow-cards being issued (2-3).
This win leads into a game with the California Institute of Technology on Wednesday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. as the Bulldogs will get their first chance to get revenge after losing 3-1 in September.
