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September 17, 2007 Men's Soccer Team Returned From Their Trip to Los Angeles with a 1-1-1 Record
Eric Mendoza added two more goals in the span of three minutes to sink the Slugs, after they had battled back in the second half with several good opportunities on goal, the best coming from Midfielder Evan Chambers (SO, Healdsburg, CA). Mahowald finished with 6 saves on the day. In their second game of the trip the Slugs looked to improve against NCAA Division III rival Claremont McKenna. The Slugs again started slow giving up two first half goals, both coming off of direct free kicks from Tomislav Zbozinek in the 9th and again in the 34th minute. However, the Slugs came out on fire in the second half and put the Stags on the back foot from the opening whistle. Matt Fondy (SO, Foster City, CA) had pulled one back within 6 minutes of half time on a corner taken by Davin Kono (JR, Encinitas, CA). Then Kono and Fondy hooked up again in the 70th minute to pull the Slugs level, as Fondy was slipped in behind the Stags defense by Kono and finished from a very tight angle. The Slugs pushed on for the game winner through several fine efforts from Tim Degrasse (JR, Santa Cruz, CA), CJ Villalobos, (SO, London, England) and Fondy, but all were turned away by Stags keeper Alex Price. The Slugs out shot Claremont 23-17 on the day and 6-5 in the overtime periods. Next up for the Slugs was fellow NCAA Division III Independent, La Sierra University. For the third time on their trip to LA the Slugs started the game slow, and trailed after 15 minutes. However, the goal seemed to wake the Slugs up and they answered right back through Clay Sorensen (JR, San Rafael, CA) in the 17th minute for his first goal of the season. The match remained tight through out the first half, but after the break the Slugs scored three unanswered goals. Matt Fondy added his 6th and 7th goals of the season on the 65th and 76th min, on assists from Ryan Kimura (FR, Moraga, CA) and Harrison Foster (SO, Woodland Hills, CA) respectively. Evan Chambers added his first goal of the season in the 85th min as he broke through the Golden Eagle defense and slipped the ball past the keeper to seal the victory. "Overall it was a very positive trip for us" said head coach Dan Chamberlain. "We got two results that we needed, and we improved as a team in each match, I am very excited about where this team is going at the moment. If we keep improving at the rate we have been, there will be great things on the horizon for us." |
