ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka Lions defeated the University of Antelope Valley Pioneers 4-0 on Sunday afternoon. This is Soka's second win over the Pioneers in program history.

Gera De La Torre put the Lions on the scoreboard early after catching the keeper off his line and placing his shot high into the goal from inside the 18-yard box. The goal stemmed from a cheeky chip over the Pioneers' back line from Mikey Venezia. Venezia's pass found De La Torre in stride whose first-time finish gave Soka the 1-0 lead twelve minutes into the match. This was De La Torre's sixth goal of the season. 

Three minutes later, Bryan Palpallatoc found himself on the ball 35 yards out from the goal. He took a touch into space and blasted his shot towards the net. The shot was perfectly placed as it dipped into the Upper-V of the back post giving Soka the two-goal advantage and tallying his first career goal for the Lions.

Soka's third goal started with Noah Alexander serving a driven inswinger towards the back post. Alexander's corner kick connected with Zach Engfelt, whose first-time pass went straight to Ivan Acosta. Acosta flicked his shot past the Pioneers' goalkeeper Fhernando Medina, netting his first career goal and giving Soka the 3-0 lead.

With less than two minutes remaining in regulation time, Soka's Sam Dagg converted his shot, scoring his third goal of the season and the Lions' fourth and final goal of the game.

"The team was very good today," said Head Coach Shawn Beyer. "We feel there is still room to grow, and we want to compete at the highest level possible. It was the second game in a row that the team put in a convincing performance. Keeping the clean sheet was great, and scoring four goals was a nice reward for their efforts."

Up next, the Lions travel to Sierra Nevada College on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.  
 
 
Game Notes: The Lions outshot Antelope Valley 12-8… Soka's Riley Grosso made three saves on the day… a yellow card was shown to the Pioneers' team bench.