CLAREMONT, Calif. — The University of La Verne men's soccer team defeated Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 2-0, behind goals from Justin Funes and Christopher Wong on Wednesday night at Pritzlaff Field.
La Verne improves to 5-1-1 in SCIAC play (7-1-1 overall) and overtakes the Stags in the league standings for second place. CMS falls to 7-2-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the SCIAC.
The Leopards controlled play from the start and Funes opened the scoring in the 14th minute. He received the ball from Nathan Gonzalez outside the box and blasted a shot to upper right corner from 25 yards out to put the Leopards on top.
La Verne kept up the pressure and Wong notched the insurance marker in the 32nd minute. Ryan Adams had his shot parried away by Cui on a breakaway but collected his own rebound and dropped off to Wong, who slotted into the net for his second goal of the year.
With some breathing room, the Leopards packed in tight, slowed down the tempo and absorbed pressure with ease the rest of the game. La Verne outshot CMS, 11-2, in the first half and 16-10 on the game.
La Verne goalkeeper Josh Ramirez was never really threatened and earned a clean sheet with three saves. Cui made seven saves, but was tagged with his first individual loss of the season.
Funes and Wong each registered three shots total and two on goal.
Mehron Abdi led the Stags offense with four total shots.
The Leopards are back in action on Saturday at Cal Lutheran. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.