Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College men's soccer team used a second half surge last night to upend the Leopards of the University of La Verne 5-0 in route to their sixth SCIAC victory.
With the win Whittier now improves to 6-8, 6-4 SCIAC, while La Verne drops to 6-7-1, 4-6 SCIAC.
This marks the second time this season the Poets have beaten the Leopards scoring at least four goals with the game back on September 10 finishing at 4-2 in the Poets favor.
The Poets and Leopards played to a scoreless first half proving to be a tight contest with La Verne holding the edge on shots at 10-7. But the second half proved to be different as Whittier came out strong outshooting the Leopards 14-5 with six of them being on goal.
The Purple & Gold got on the scoreboard four minutes into the second half when Dylan Fortin knocked in a rebound after Srdan Jovanovic had taken a shot prior that had been saved by Leopard keeper Richard Duran.
This proved to be the lone goal the Poets would need to secure the victory but they continued to pressure the ball and continued to get scoring chances as Jovanovic added his eleventh goal of the season by heading in a cross put in by Kevin Hartsough in the 66th minute.
This put Whittier in front 2-0 but they again added goals in the 72nd and 74th minutes from Lucas Depinna and Fortin that extended the Poet lead to 4-0.
But they weren't done there as Jasper Albright, who was getting his first playing time of the season in the 84th minute put in his first goal of the season as he took a through a ball in transition and scored from the top of the box between the legs of Duran. This put Whittier in front 5-0 giving them the largest lead of the game and making it the second highest scoring total of the season.
Senior David Diaz recorded the win finishing with 9 saves in the shutout, while Depinna and Jovanovic led the Purple & Gold in shots with four a piece.
The Poets look to carry this momentum into Saturday, October 13 when they take on the Tigers of Occidental College beginning at 7:00pm.
