Cal Lutheran Falls Late to Whittier
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Despite playing a man-up for the final 85-plus minutes of regulation, the CLU men's soccer team could not score on any of its 27 attempts in dropping a 1-0 decision at home on Wednesday afternoon. Poets freshman Matthew Mackenzie scored the lone goal in the 84th minute to win the match.
Box Score: WC 1, CLU 0 - F
An elbow from Whittier's Jamie Manning connected with the nose of Cal Lutheran's Raul Yepez forcing the sophomore to the sidelines with a bloody nose. The Poet freshman was given a straight red card forcing the visitors to play a man down for almost the entire contest.
Cal Lutheran forced the action putting nine of its 14 first half shots on target. Whittier goalkeeper Taylor Ayres turned away all first half attempts while counterpart Chris Holm was nearly forced into making a save as Gregorio Giorgi's attempt from the right post about eight yards out went wide rolling off the side netting in the 28th minute.
Ayres kept the Poets in the contest making 14 saves including three from point-blank range to preserve a scoreless game. Yepez took four shots in the game putting the final team shot on goal at the 66 minute mark.
Nearing the end of regulation, Whittier earned possession deep in the Cal Lutheran backfield after Patricio Carregha ran down a pass near the left corner. His cross found an unmarked Matthew Mackenzie who headed home the go-ahead score at the 83:30 mark.
The Poets secured third place and the Kingsmen seventh in the conference standings regardless of Saturday's results. Wednesday marked the fourth straight time that Whittier has defeated Cal Lutheran by one goal, with a pair of victories in each of the past two seasons.
Cal Lutheran (3-12-2, 3-9-1 SCIAC) will wrap up its conference season on the road this Saturday, October 30 at Occidental.
