Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

Article by: Max Klein

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College men's soccer team played out a thrilling draw on Saturday night, finishing the night 1-1 against the Kingsmen of California Lutheran University. 

Cal Lu opened the game looking the more aggressive side, calling sophomore goalkeeper Jorge Rivas (Lake Forest, Calif.) into action to make a fine save in the third minute. 

The Kingsmen continued to push forward in the first half, playing through right wing Zach Larson, who tried to make life difficult for the Poet defensive unit.  The Whittier back line held strong though despite the Kingsmen holding a majority of possessions in the Whittier half. 

In the 35th minute, freshman defender Rudy Cessna (Anaheim, Calif.) made a goal saving tackle in the box to deny Cal Lu the lead. 

The Poets came out buzzing in the second half, looking to create chances and hold possession. Senior midfielder Devin Guthrie (Huntington Beach, Calif.) put the ball just over the bar in the 50th minute and junior forward Dylan Fortin (San Diego, Calif.) mishit another chance in the box five minutes later. 

Rivas made another strong save in the 53rd minute, parrying a shot out to his left to keep the score even at 0-0. 

In the 65th minute, CLU ran through the middle of the pitch before Nick Baldi put the ball in the back of the net to put the Kingsmen in front.   

Trailing 1-0 the Poets began to push further forward and kept the Kingsmen defense under constant pressure. They were then granted a free kick on the right flank in the 85th minute, where senior midfielder Brian Russell (Torrance, Calif.) stepped up and found senior midfielder Tyler Crough (Fresno, Calif.) in the box, who flicked the ball beyond the CLU keeper Jack Duncan to level the score at one. 

Overtime was controlled by the Poets, who continued to put the Kingsmen on their heels but just couldn't find the right chance to give them the go ahead goal.

CLU outshot the Poets 25-20 on the game but WC held an advantage on corner kicks 6-5.  Russell led the offensive unit with seven shots and an assist, while Fortin took three.  In between the posts, Rivas collected nine saves against 10 shots. 

"It was a hard fought battle" assistant coach Chris Beville said. "We will look to improve our results come Monday." Fortin added that the team "played well but just didn't finish opportunities."

The draw moves the Poets to 6-4-2 overall and 4-4-2 in SCIAC play, with both draws coming against Cal Lu. They will return to action this Monday night, October 13 at 7:00pm, when they travel to play Occidental College.