REDLANDS, Calif. – Five seniors and Head Coach Ralph Perez were honored before the University of Redlands Men's Soccer team's (8-6-4, 6-3-3 SCIAC) 2-1 win over California Lutheran University (CLU) Saturday evening as they clinched a share of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) regular season title for the 11th time under Perez.
:23 seconds into the game Redlands struck with Anders Beckton (Seattle, WA) finding Zachary Darmanyan (San Diego, CA) in the box who then turned and took the shot on the ground beating the Kingsmen keeper to the corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season.
Not to be outdone, CLU responded :46 seconds later that tied the game at one with only 1:09 off the clock.
The Bulldogs earned a corner in the 14th minute. Connor Claborn (Santa Clarita, CA) took it from the right corner flag and placed it right in front of the goal where Jared Keyvan (Costa Mesa, CA) headed it home for the eventual game-winner as it was the third and final goal only 13 minutes and 25 seconds into the game.
Brady Bachman (San Diego, CA) was forced to make only one save during the first half, while the Bulldogs got multiple looks including ones from Jacob White (Fontana, CA) and Ronaldo Fernandez (Murrieta, CA) in the final five minutes of the opening 45.
Bachman made an early save in the 52nd minute before Benjamin Legrand (Las Vegas, NV) headed a ball up into the air, which hit the top of the crossbar.
Still up only one, Beckton continued to get multiple opportunities to make it 3-1, including one-on-one chances, most notably in the 89th minute when he tried to beat the CLU keeper on the ground but it was hit directly at him.
The lack of a third goal would not be a problem ultimately thanks to the Maroon and Grey defensive unit that allowed only two shots on goal in the second 45, neither of which came in the final 23 minutes.
Redlands takes a share of the SCIAC Regular Season title along with Occidental College. The Bulldogs will be the No. 2 seed since the Tigers own the tiebreaker, winning the lone meeting on the season.
The Bulldogs will host a SCIAC Tournament Semi-Final game against No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer next Thursday, November 6 at Farquhar Field.
