Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Men's Soccer team kept the game close in the early stages of Saturday nights game against Chapman University but couldn't find the back of the goal as they fell 3-0 at Memorial Stadium.
The Purple & Gold have now been held scoreless for back-to-back contests as they drop to 3-8, 3-7 SCIAC losing three of their last four.
Despite controlling the offensive side of the ball outshooting the Panthers 19-9, the Poets couldn't overcome the 11-3 disadvantage on corner kicks, which proved crucial in the game.
The lone goal in the first half came in the 32nd minute from Lorenzo Belassen who finished a corner kick put in by Justo Garcia. The Poets looked for the equalizer over the final 13:00 of the frame with shots from Matteo Loi (Kirkland, WA), Erik Dimas (Pomona, Calif.), and Parker McDonald (Corona, Calif.) but two of the three would be turned away from CU goalie Sean Augustine.
In the second half, the Purple & Gold put two early shots on frame from Scott Clark (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) and Connor Tait-Mole (Livermore, Calif.) but again Augustine would come up big with two saves.
It would take Chapman almost 20 minutes to get a shot off in the second half due to the strong defensive play from the back line of Matt Slee (Bothell, WA), McDonald, Clark, and Ian Nicolas (Concord, Calif.).
After the CU strike, the Poets went back at it controlling the tempo with Tait-Mole and Rudy Cessna (Anaheim, Calif.) combining for four shots but again all were off the mark. Late in the half with 10:00 to play the Panthers became lucky grabbing two connections within eight minutes of each other. Garcia picked up the first in the 80th minute and would come back soon after finishing in the 88th.
William Allgeier (Brea, Calif.) played all 32:00 in goal and finished with two saves. Tait-Mole led the offense with eight shots with three being on goal.
Whittier travels now for two games as they go against the University of Redlands, Wednesday, October 18 beginning at 7:00pm before traveling to play Claremont-M-S on Saturday, October 21 at 7:00pm.
