CLAREMONT, Calif. — Saul Uribe scored on a beauty of a free kick in the second half but the University of La Verne men's soccer team could not overcome a pair of first half goals in a 2-1 loss at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Monday night.

How it happened: After giving two first half goals to CMS, La Verne faced an uphill battle as the Stags packed it in in the second half. The Leopards broke through in the 85^th minute when Uribe curled a perfect free kick into the upper right corner from just left of the half-circle, but could not find the equalizer.

CMS knocked on La Verne's door early and often. Within the first seven minutes of the start of the game, the Stags had launched four shots and put pressure on the Leopards.

Then in the 12^th minute, CMS took possession of the ball near midfield and caught the La Verne back line playing a bit too high. The Stags played a through ball to Jacques Bialostozky, who hopped past two La Verne defenders for a clean look at the goal.

The Leopard looked to answer immediately. On the ensuing kickoff, the Leopards drove up the field and drew a corner kick. Uribe put a shot on goal a few minutes later and got a headed opportunity, but could not get either shot past CMS goalkeeper Alex Choi.

Neither team gained clear advantage the rest of the half until a penalty kick was called Justin Almandinger made what seemed to be a 50-50 tackle on CMS' Salar Hajimirsadeghi in the box. Jaison Kimura converted the spot kick to give the Stags a 2-0 lead going into the break.

Player of the game: Uribe was La Verne's best offensive player. He was active and utilized his speed to create opportunities. Besides the goal, Uribe had a couple of good chances turned away by Choi. Uribe had a game high five shots with four of them on goal.

Greg Veron made his first career start and had eight saves for the Leopards.

Stat of the game: CMS outshot La Verne, 19-10. Although most of those shots weren't high quality, the Stags kept the pressure on the Leopards all game.

What it means: La Verne (4-2-1, 1-2-0 SCIAC) drops its second straight match, but they were against two of the best teams in the SCIAC last season. CMS claimed the 2013 SCIAC championship and Chapman was the 2013 SCIAC Postseason Tournament runner-up.

Up next: The Leopards will look to turn the momentum on Wednesday when it hosts Pomona-Pitzer at Ortmayer Stadium at 7 p.m.