ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka University Lions defeated the Pacific Union Pioneers 6-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Lions' Den Soccer Stadium.

The Lions opened the floodgates in the ninth minute of play when Sam Dagg dispossessed the Pioneers' goalkeeper and drove his shot into the upper right corner to give his side the early lead. 

Thirteen minutes later, Noah Alexander played a penetrating pass to Kohtaro Goto, who took a touch and found Luis Barraza in stride. Barraza slotted his shot low into the left corner giving the Lions the 2-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, Soka was awarded a penalty kick, and Josh Lee confidently stepped up to the spot. Remaining poised, Lee placed his shot perfectly, tallying his second career goal and the third goal of the match.

With the final seconds of the first half counting down, Soka's Adalid Oregon carried the ball down the left flank, beating several Pioneers' defenders on the dribble. Oregon connected his pass centrally to Ivan Acosta, who then slipped his shot low to give the Lions the 4-0 lead at the end of the first period of play.

The Pioneers started the second half strong, converting their chance in the 55^th minute off of a rebounded blocked shot, but five minutes later, Noah Alexander's vision and precision led to another Lions goal. Alexander threaded a perfectly weighted pass behind the Pioneers' back line finding Max Lau's feet. Lau took his first touch to his right and finished his shot low, netting Soka's fifth goal.

In the 72^nd minute, Barraza drew the Lions' second penalty kick of the game and stepped up to take the shot. Keeping his composure, Barraza slotted his shot into the back of the net, scoring his second goal of the match and bringing the final score to 6-1.

"The team put in a quality performance today," said Head Coach Shawn Beyer. "The sharpness was there again in our passing, but we added the composure to finish our chances. Pacific Union chose to keep a high defensive line, and although we were caught offside a few times, we were able to get behind them regularly. Full credit to our players for the quick start and for staying on the front foot. That's three wins in three games, and now we travel next weekend for a good test against UC Merced."

Next, Soka heads to UC Merced to face the Bobcats on their home turf on Saturday, October 8, 2022. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.
 
 

Game Notes: The Lions are now 3-2-1 in Cal Pac Conference play and 3-5-3 overall… Soka outshot Pacific Union 18-8…. Eric Aparicio made three saves on the day… yellow cards were shown to Pacific Union's Dylan Thomas and Jordan Baumback.