ORANGE, Calif. — Alfredo Garcia couldn't have found a better moment to score his first collegiate goal.
The freshman from Paramount, Calif., tucked away the game winner in the 85th minute and the University of La Verne men's soccer beat Chapman, 2-1, on Saturday night at Wilson Field.
Nick Gonsalves played a perfect ball behind the back line to set up Garcia for a 1-on-1 opportunity against Chapman goalkeeper Matt Deemer and Garcia coolly put it away to break a 1-1 tie.
Fellow newcomer Briley Venti opened the scoring in the first half. Venti got the ball in the midfield, crept up towards the box and blasted a 25-yarder into the net to get the Leopards on the board for a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute.
Chapman had dominated the ball prior to the goal, registering all six of its first half shots in the game's first 18 minutes. But after Venti's goal, the Leopards tightened up as a whole and did not allow another attempt to the Panthers for the rest of the half.
La Verne carried the defensive momentum into the second half but Chapman pulled even in the 55th minute with a well-executed goal. Grant Fremmerlid flicked a throw-in into the box to Marco Saglimbeni and Saglimben put it into the back of the net.
The game then got physical. Chapman committed nine of whopping 12 second half fouls after its equalizer and was shown three yellow cards. The Leopards got on the books twice as well, but did not lose its calm and kept knocking on Chapman's door until Garcia found the net in the waning minutes of the game.
"The team rebounded nicely after conceding a goal in the second," Persson said. "We kept the pressure on and were able to get a nice goal late in the game to win. We made some tactical changes at halftime and the guys seemed extremely motivated to get a positive result.
The Leopards improve to 6-1-0 overall and 3-1-0 in SCIAC play. Chapman falls to 3-3-2 and 2-2-0.
La Verne returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Redlands for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
