ALISO VIEJO, CA- The Soka University Lions earned their first win of the season on Friday evening after defeating the Stanton University Fighting Elks 3-2 in a thrilling match at the Lions' Den Soccer Stadium.

The Lions scored back-to-back first-half goals to give them an early 2-0 lead. Rudy Garcia netted his chance in the 12th minute off Sam Dagg's pass. The goal originated from a deep service into the 'right corner of the Lions' attacking third from David Olivas. Dagg received Olivas' pass, collected the ball into space, and served a driven cross towards Garcia, who finished his chance, giving Soka the 1-0 lead.

The Lions' second goal originated from Luis Barraza's defensive work on the left flank in the 19th minute. Barraza dispossessed Stanton's right back, dribbled down towards the by-line, and pulled his cross second-six to Dagg. Dagg timed his run perfectly and blasted his shot into the goal's upper right corner, giving Soka the 2-0 lead going into the second half.

The Fighting Elks responded at the start of the second half, scoring two goals in five minutes and leveling the score 2-2.

In the 73rd minute, after end-to-end action, Soka's Kohtaro Goto netted the game-winning goal. The game-winner stemmed from a ball served by Mateus Seiki Rosa to Ivan Acosta. Acosta slipped his pass to Goto, who slotted his shot low and into the back post of the goal, bringing the final score to 3-2.

"We were really pleased with the first-half performance," Head Coach Shawn Beyer said. "We were strong on the set pieces and scored two good goals. We were in control, but we allowed two goals after halftime and made it difficult for ourselves. As usual, we will analyze the match and continue to make progress as we prepare for conference play next week."

Next up, Soka hosts Park University-Gilbert on Thursday, September 7, 2023, for their first Cal Pac Conference match of the season.
 
NOTES: The Lions are now 1-2-1 overall… The Fighting Elks outshot the Lions 13-9; however, the Lions put eight shots on frame while Stanton only put six shots on target…Soka's Eric Aparicio made four saves on the day… yellow cards were shown to Soka's Adalid Oregon and Diego Barba.