ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka University Lions defeated the Providence Christian College Sea Beggars 6-1 Saturday evening at the Lions' Den Soccer Stadium, bringing their overall record to 6-3-1 and 5-1 in Cal Pac Conference play.

The Lions opened up the scoring in the 33^rd minute after Noah Alexander connected with Bryan Palpallatoc on the right flank. Palpallatoc threaded his pass to Rudy Garcia, making the diagonal run behind the Sea Beggars' back line and into the box. Garcia took a touch and slipped his shot past Providence's keeper to give Soka the 1-0 advantage.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first half, the Lions earned a penalty kick, and Palpallatoc stepped to the spot. Poised, Palpallatoc then buried his shot into the net, giving Soka the 2-0 lead at halftime.

Six minutes into the second half of play, the Lions were awarded another penalty kick, and Soka's Luis Barraza wanted the shot. Barraza remained cool, calm, and collected and banked his shot off the post and into the goal, bringing the score to 3-0.

Less than 5 minutes later, Soka earned another penalty kick, and Hope Suka was ready. Composed at the spot, Suka blasted his shot and converted his chance, giving him his second goal of the season and bringing the Lions' goal count to four.    

In the 66^th minute, Kohtaro Goto played a perfectly placed pass to Garcia, who tallied his second goal of the game, giving him five goals on the season. Goto, however, was not finished earning points on the night, netting his second goal of the season off of a pass by Alireza Sotoudeh.

Providence Christian earned a corner kick with less than ten minutes left in the game. The service into the box found the head of a fellow Sea Beggar who flicked the ball to Graeme Vander Meulen. Vander Meulen chipped his shot high and into the goal, bringing the final score to 6-1. 

"It was a memorable night for many reasons," said Head Coach Shawn Beyer. "First off, it was a solid performance from the team. Second, it was also our captain, Bryan Palpallotoc's birthday, and he was impressive with the build-up and assist in our first goal. Then he went on to convert a penalty, so having him on the score sheet was pretty special. His contribution to the program has been immense. Additionally, we were able to play most of our players, which especially gives experience to the first-years. We are really happy with the development so far. Now, we must turn to the important second half of the season and the next big match against La Sierra."

Next, the Lions will travel to Riverside, California, to face the Golden Eagles of La Sierra University. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.


 
NOTES: Soka outshot Providence Christian College 21-2… Soka's Eric Aparicio and Bernardo Atalla split halves in goal… Garcia now leads the Lions in points with 11.