ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka Lions were edged by the Westcliff University Warriors 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Lions' Den Soccer Stadium. 

The two sides remained scoreless for 42 minutes until Westcliff's Quentin Hornung blasted his shot from inside the 18-yard box into the back post of the goal to give the Warriors the 1-0 advantage to end the first half. Hornung struck again, netting his shot less than a minute into the second period, off of an assist from Kay Maletzki.

Soka's Max Lau answered back in the 52^nd minute after dispossessing the Warriors defender 35 yards out from goal. Lau picked up his head, saw the opportunity, and drove his shot high to catch Westcliff's goalkeeper Francesco Zanin off his line to put the Lions on the scoreboard, 2-1.

Six minutes later, the Warriors' Jakob Schnitzler connected his cross to Silva Mosue. Mosue placed his shot into the corner bringing the score to 3-1.

In the 77^th minute, Soka's Alex Tavarez served a well-driven cross mid-goal towards Jared Chavez. Chavez got his head on the cross, re-directing his shot cross-keeper, converting his chance, and bringing the final score to 3-2 in favor of the Warriors.

"Conceding goals just before and right after half-time made things difficult for us," said Head Coach Shawn Beyer. "However, the two goals we scored in the second half were definitely a bright spot. Defensively we could have done better in 1 vs. 1 situations. In the attack, we will look to continue developing our build-up play and finishing our chances."

Next, the Lions will host the University of Saint Katherine on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, at 5:30 p.m.
 
 
Game Notes: Westcliff outshot Soka 24-13. The Lions' Riley Grosso made nine saves on the day. Yellow cards were shown to Soka's Bryan Palpallatoc and Westcliff's Karam Idris.