It was senior night for the California Lutheran University men’s soccer team on Wednesday, Oct. 26 as they took on Whittier College in an all-conference matchup at William Rolland Stadium.

The Kingsmen versus Poets game ended in a 0-0 draw, lasting over 110 minutes as the teams forced the game into overtime. Both teams defenses were able to hold on until the bitter end.

The Kingsmen improved their season record to 5-10-1, while the Poets recorded their second draw of the season, making their record 8-3-2.

“I think going forward from there, we’ve had an unfortunate year,” Assistant Coach Nicholas Garcia said. “Coming away today with a point was pretty good for us. I mean obviously we wanted to win, but a point is good.”

The Kingsmen came into the game after losing their last six games, all against Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams.

Throughout the game, the Poets outshot the Kingsmen with 13 overall shots, seven of them in the second half. Owen Ebner, sophomore goalkeeper for the Kingsmen, made five saves in the second half, forcing the game into overtime.

“It was tough. It’s always tough to come into the game in the second half, especially with a game like this where it’s really close and it’s back and forth,” Ebner said. “I just stayed focused and kept the team in it and it was super exciting keeping everyone focused and pushing on.”

Halfway through the game, an injury caused sophomore midfielder Igor Lumbrano to leave the game, which ignited the Kingsmen’s aggressive play.

Both teams tried to push the ball down field and multiple fouls were called by head referee Luis Gutierrez. The Poets had 23 overall fouls, while the Kingsmen had 18 fouls throughout the entire game.

Senior forward Joey Arnold played in 57 minutes of the game providing a big spark for the Cal Lutheran offense. As a senior playing on senior night, Arnold said he wanted to make sure he finished his career at Cal Lutheran on a high note.

“I’ve been here for four years. It’s crazy that I’m done now. Well, I still have one more game, but it’s the last time I will be playing on this field. It’s pretty sad, but I don’t know, I just have to remember all of the good times we had out here, so I can’t be too upset,” Arnold said.

The Kingsmen will travel to Pomona-Pitzer on Wednesday, Oct. 30 to compete in their last SCIAC game to round off their season of soccer.

“I think we just have to refocus on that now. We got away with a point, so it’s a big building block for us and we have to look forward to it, and hopefully we can get a result out of that as well,” Garcia said.