California Lutheran University Kingsmen soccer (5-5-3) played in a scoreless tie against the University of Redlands (7-2-3) at William Rolland Stadium on Saturday night.
Neither team was able to put any points on the board, with solid defensive play from both teams, each accounting for one save.
Head Coach Miguel Ruiz, in his seventh season at the helm, said he liked the discipline his team portrayed in the matchup, despite not coming out with the victory.
“I thought we were really disciplined against a very good Redlands team that’s sitting in second I think. So I think for us coming out here and getting to play our own game, I think, you know we always want to win games so that’s the hard part but getting an opponent against a very good side and Redlands, I think we’ll take that. Still a lot of season left and we got to go and we just keep grinding and getting points,” Ruiz said.
Neither team was able to put up a shot on target until the 34th minute when senior midfielder JP Melgoza of the Kingsmen drew a penalty kick that got saved.
Sophomore midfielder Dane Paulson said despite the tie, it was a good battle between both teams, going back and forth throughout the match.
“Decent performance from the whole team, including myself. It was back and forth, a lot of good, a lot of bad as well. I mean, I thought we stayed on top of the game for the most part and we had plenty of chances to score, it’s just an unfortunate result,” Paulson said.
Junior defender Jack Gominiak said an issue throughout the season has been the Kingsmen battling with the ability to maintain energy throughout the course of the match.
“Definitely energy again. You know, like I said we’ve been lacking a lot of energy, especially coming off the bench, but you know, I think the first ten to fifteen minutes usually come out super slow and today it was just on from the very beginning. I felt we kept that energy super high the entire game, I feel like we were successful,” Gominiak said.
Between both teams, there were a total of 26 shots, with the Kingsmen outshooting Redlands 16-10.
“You know, I think this is the first time we have outshot somebody so I think that’s definitely a plus when you’re so into a game like this. So I think outshooting a very good team, I think that’s definitely a plus for us,” Ruiz said.
Paulson said that although his team didn’t get the victory, he was still pleased with the outcome of the Kingsmen’s battle versus Redlands.
“It’s a good result, I mean Redlands is a good team, it’s our rivalry, I mean a tie is a tie, right, I mean we both had our share of goal-scoring opportunities but at the end of the day, we’ll take a point and we’ll move on,” Paulson said.
Although they weren’t able to pull out the victory tonight, the Kingsmen still remain positive about their ability to compete with any team in their conference, according to Gominiak.
“I mean, I think it shows that we can play with anyone, especially them being one of the best teams in our conference,” Gominiak said. “I feel like we controlled that game. You know, we got to the final third. I feel like as long as we start hitting the back of the net, we’re going to control this league.”
The Kingsmen will play Pomona-Pitzer on the road in a conference matchup on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m.
