WHITTIER, Calif. — Nathan Gonzalez opened the scoring with a penalty kick, Saul Uribe netted his third of the season and the University of La Verne men's soccer team defeated Whittier, 2-0, on Saturday night at Graham Field.
La Verne improves to 7-2-0 overall and 4-2-0 in SCIAC play. Whittier falls to 3-4-1 and 2-3-1.
"It was great overall team effort, everyone stuck to the plan and the objective," La Verne head coach Trevor Persson said. "We were also able to adapt to the small field and bumpy grass."
The Leopards' efficiency early proved the difference in an otherwise evenly played match. Whittier got off four shots in the game's first eight minutes but the Leopards converted on two of their first four shots—including Gonzalez's penalty—to stake out to a two-goal advantage that held through the match.
Gonzalez drew the penalty himself. Martin Gonzalez played good ball over the top from the left side, Gonzalez cut to his right into the penalty box and was kicked from behind. He proceeded to calmly convert the spot kick for his third marker of the year. He also finished with a game-high seven shots
Uribe doubled the Leopards' lead with an acrobatic goal in the 23rd minute. Upon receiving a lobbed through ball, Uribe chipped it over his defender, got past his man and headed it in from about eight yards out.
Whittier came out of the interval with greater urgency, pressing high and peppering the Leopards' goal with 12 second-half shots. But La Verne matched Whittier's intensity on defense and preserved the shutout. La Verne goalkeeper Josh Ramirez made three saves in the second half and Gonzalez and Jaime Moreno came up with huge blocks out in the field late in the game.
"We had a couple of defensive breakdowns but made changes within the flow of the game that stopped all their momentum," Persson said.
Ramirez was solid in net, turning away a total of six Whittier shots to notch his first clean sheet since the season-opening 1-0 win at George Fox on Sept. 2. His biggest saves came right after La Verne's opening goal as the Poets were looking to catch the Leopards off-balance.
"It's taken him a few games to make a really big save for us and tonight he came up with three," Persson said of his freshman netminder. "He's adapting to the speed of play and starting to meet the expectations of a college goalkeeper."
La Verne returns to action on Monday when it hosts Pomona-Pitzer for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
