ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka University Lions fell to the Golden Eagles of La Sierra University 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Lion's Den Soccer Stadium.

The Golden Eagles were the first to get on the scoreboard in the 22^nd minute after La Sierra's Ivan Villagrana connected with Jose Rodriguez inside the 18-yard box. Rodriguez slotted his shot past Soka's junior goal keeper Maxwel Barainca, giving the Golden Eagles the 1-0 lead.

Just before the end of the half, Soka earned a free kick from 40 yards out. With some deception from first-year midfielder Josh Lee and sophomore striker Gerardo De La Torre on the set piece, De La Torre drove a brilliantly bent ball towards the back post. Unmarked, Soka's sophomore outside back Harrison Gilmer soared into the air, got his head on the end of the service, and placed his shot into the goal netting the equalizer in the 41^st minute.

The two sides provided end to end action throughout the second half of play, with each team creating scoring opportunities to no prevail, until La Sierra's Villagrana broke free with the ball at his feet in the 83^rd minute. With two Soka defenders trailing Villagrana closely, Soka's Barainca was forced to quickly come off of his line. He closed down Villargrana's angle to the goal, and made the sliding save. However, after some commotion inside of the box, La Sierra was awarded a penalty kick, and the Golden Eagles' Israel Vasquez converted his chance into the left corner, bringing the final score to 2-1.

"Today was particularly tough for a couple of reasons," said Head Coach Ian Eggleston. "I thought La Sierra was the better team for the first 30 minutes, but the we made adjustments to prevent them from playing out of the back, and combining so much in midfield. Our goal from the free kick was great, as it's a specific one we've worked on. We had a great chat at half time, and I think we were the better, and more dangerous team in the second half. I thought Max made an amazing save on the breakaway with six minutes left in the game, but it somehow got called a penalty. When Yauri jumped to avoid a dangerous challenge in the 20th minute, he fell on his arm and broke it badly. For that to happen 13 months after breaking his ankle, and working so hard to get back to being one of the best players in the Cal Pac Conference was extremely cruel. We're all thinking about Yauri tonight, he's such an important player and leader on our team, and we'll do all that we can to support him though this."  

Up next, the Lions remain at home when they host the University of Antelope Valley Pioneers on Friday Nov. 1, 2019. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
 
 


NOTES: This is the 16^th meeting between the Golden Eagles and Lions… Soka is now 6-7-3 overall against La Sierra… Soka outshot La Sierra 18-16… Soka's Barainca made four saves on the day… De La Torre led the Lions with five shots, while senior Yauri De Groot took four shots… Soka is now 8-6 overall and 4-4 in California Pacific Conference Play.