REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands men's soccer team (3-1-1) dropped their first game of the season unable to hold onto a 1-0 lead given to them in the 12th minute by Zachary Darmanyan (San Diego, CA).
Darmanyan began the night with a shot on goal only :32 seconds after the opening whistle. On the other end Jaden Nisperos' (San Diego, CA) first two saves came in the seventh and ninth minutes.
Thomas Lyden (Thornwood, NY) then had his header saved before Darmanyan came down and scored :39 seconds later. Landon Azavedo (Lake Oswego, OR) brought the ball up the left side and won a 1v1 passing it into the middle where Garrett Colley (Danville, CA) took a touch before passing the ball to an oncoming Darmanyan who took a touch in the box and slotted it under the Tiger keeper for a 1-0 lead.
The remainder of the first half neither team tested the goal again as the Bulldogs took the lead into the break.
On only the second shot attempt of the second half, the Tigers equalized on a fastbreak goal from outside the box in the 51st minute.
Two seconds short of two minutes later a Colorado player was shown a red forcing the Tigers side to play with only 10 men for the final 37:35. After that the Bulldogs peppered the goal with Lyden and Darmanyan getting their shots blocked, followed by a look from Azavedo who struck the ball clean keeping it low on the ground. But the Tiger keeper had a strong first touch taking the momentum out of the shot to keep it 1-1.
Against the run of play, Colorado transitioned quickly with a long pass from their own half, which made it over the Bulldog backline. The first touch came to the middle where a sliding Tiger got it past Nisperos for what would be the eventual game winner in the 74th minute.
Colley and Tomas Paoli (Eureka, CA) each had looks on goal in the final 12 minutes that were stopped as the Bulldogs ultimately were unable to break down the Tiger defense late in the game, despite the player advantage.
The U of R gets a non-conference road game at the same site where they beat Trinity University (Texas) last Sunday. They will travel to take on Azusa Pacific University on Wednesday, September 16 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
