Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – In one of the highest scoring games for the Poets this season, Whittier was still unable to come away with the victory despite a three goal effort in the second half as they fell 4-3 to the Panthers of Chapman University Saturday afternoon.
Whittier now drops to 5-8, 5-4 SCIAC, while Chapman improves to 5-6-1, 4-4-1 SCIAC.
The Poets who were coming off of a stunning win over the Bulldogs of the University of Redlands 3-1 a couple nights prior was unable to find their offense until the second half when they found themselves down 4-1before they mounted their comeback in the 68th and 69th minutes getting goals from Srdan Jovanovic and Dylan Fortin that pulled the Poets within one.
Chapman received both goals in the first half from dual athlete Mauricio Alfonso who added goals in the 2nd and 37th minute to give Chapman a 2-0 lead going into the half.
Coming out of the break, Whittier began playing more aggressively and outshot Chapman 16-8 for the half and held a 6-0 advantage on corner kicks. The Purple & Gold added their first score a minute into the second half as Jovanovic connected from the top of the box, which ricocheted off of the far post and into the back of the goal. This cut the Chapman lead to one but the Panthers ended up adding to their lead with goals from Nick Echeverry and Duncan Capriotti that extended their lead to 4-1 before the Poets put an onslaught of shots on goal with two finding the back of the net.
But this comeback fell short despite the Poets having a good look at the equalizer in the 84th minute when Jovanovic took a strike that hit the post helping Chapman preserve the one goal victory.
Whittier continues with SCIAC play as they host La Verne on Monday, October 9 with game time set to begin at 7:00pm.
