ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — The Soka University men's soccer team came away with 3–1 victory over Life Pacific on Saturday night at home.
Life Pacific opened the scoring in the 21st minute when Anthony Miron converted from the penalty spot, but the Lions roared back with three unanswered goals to seal the result.
Hope Suka equalized just five minutes later in the 26th minute, finishing off a setup from
Kenneth Ugalde to level the match. Soka then took the lead in the 34th minute as
Mateus Seiki Rosa connected on a strike assisted by
Luca Aiello, giving the Lions momentum heading into halftime.
In the 84th minute,
Kafela Saidi added an insurance goal with an assist from
Alireza Sotoudeh, putting the match out of reach.
Soka dominated the offensive statistics, outshooting Life Pacific 22–5 (10 on frame) and earning 8 corner kicks to the Warriors' 3. Goalkeeper
Eric Aparicio made two crucial penalty saves, stopping spot kicks in both halves to preserve the Lions' advantage.
"It was a memorable Senior Night and we are happy to see our boys get a deserved win. The match played out as we expected, dominating possession and playing in the opponents half," said head coach
Shawn Beyer. "We generated plenty of chances and should have scored more. Conceding three penalty kicks is something for us to acknowledge as an issue to fix. Box to box we were very good, but it's in the final third and defending third that we need improvement. Congratulations to our four seniors who all contributed positively to this victory."
