Wes Quiroz

Senior midfielder Tika Kakimoto rises up to head the ball.

In its first home conference game of the season, California Lutheran University’s Kingsmen soccer team (2-5-1, 1-2-1) was edged out 2-1 by the Chapman University Panthers (4-2-2, 3-0-1) Wednesday night at William Rolland Stadium.

The Panthers, who are undefeated in conference play, opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again just before halftime to double their advantage.

According to Head Coach Miguel Ruiz, the pair of first half goals were scored as a result of the Kingsmen’s “undisciplined” play.

The second goal, coming moments before the break, shifted the atmosphere and left the Kingsmen with an uphill climb.

“Giving up a goal with three seconds left in the first half put us in a really bad situation,…especially at home, against a team that was undefeated,” Ruiz said.

The Kingsmen eventually broke through the Panthers’ defense around the 57-minute mark to cut the deficit to one.

The goal came courtesy of senior midfielder and captain Kane Reese, his second of the season, assisted by senior defender Lance Park.

“We executed exactly what we wanted to do, which we should have been doing from the first half,” Reese said. “We pressed, the ball came out, and then we were able to score from that.”

In the second half, the Kingsmen nearly leveled the score on several occasions, but could not find the finishing touch.

“Being down 2-0 against a pretty good team, it’s just kind of hard to come back from something like that,” Ruiz said.

Reese said the contrast between the first and second half of the game made the loss sting more.

“There were definitely things…that could have been better in that first half,” Reese said. “In the second half, it was like a completely different team.”

Senior midfielder Danny Rodriguez said, in the grand scheme of the season, setbacks like this one can push the team to sharpen its approach.

“It could have been better today,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got a lot of things we’ve gotta work on and learn from today, but…I think it’s just overall experience that we’ve gotta take to Saturday.”

While the scoreboard favored the Panthers, Ruiz said the Kingsmen’s second-half performance is something to build on.

“The second half was good, which,…if we play like that both halves, I think it changes everything,” Ruiz said. “Soccer is a cruel game, and sometimes you’ve gotta to be able to put two halves together.”

Reese said the team has to use the negatives as fuel to improve.

“I think one of the biggest positives is all the negatives,” Reese said. “It shows that we can have really good games,…and now we know what it’s like to play, you know, a bad game.” 

With the season still young, Ruiz said the team’s focus now shifts to preparing for the next challenge.

“We’ve got to move on and learn from today, and hopefully we’re ready to play on Saturday,” Ruiz said.

On Saturday, Sept. 27, the Kingsmen traveled to face the University of La Verne Leopards, but ultimately lost 4-1.

The Kingsmen will look to bounce back against the University of Redlands Bulldogs in their next conference matchup of the season at home on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.