Kingsmen Soccer
On Nov. 1, the California Lutheran University men’s soccer team hosted the Chapman Panthers on their senior night and season final. The Kingsmen fought hard in the second half to try and rally a comeback, but unfortunately they came up short by a final score of 2-1.
“It’s more bitter then sweet actually because I spent every minute in the past four years working for this basically and it’s just hard to believe that it’s all over,” said Tal Zaiet, senior defensemen for the Kingsmen. “[We] put in so much work during the season, the summer, the off-season and the strength and conditioning and knowing there’s no more left is kind of heartbreaking.”
In the first half, Chapman jumped out to an early lead when sophomore midfielder Jake Sarmiento scored for the Panthers off an assist from sophomore midfielder Cole Peters in the 32nd minute. Throughout the game and the first half especially, there were very few shots on goal where there was only 15 shots taken total between both teams.
In the second half Chapman got on the board early again when Boston Kimmel scored a goal for the Panthers in the 52nd minute giving them a 2-0 lead. The second half got physical as there were six yellow cards between the two teams and 50 total fouls throughout the game.
The Kingsmen would not go down without a fight in the second half as they got on the board in the 76th minute when junior forward and mid fielder Nick Baldi scored his fourth goal of the season giving the Kingsmen some momentum. A minute later they came close to scoring again and tying it up when junior forward Zack Larson tried to make his 11th goal of the year when the ball hit the bottom left of the goal post and somehow did not go through, keeping the Kingsmen down by one. That was the last scoring opportunity the Kingsmen had.
“Scoring that goal really gave us a lot of new energy and we came out strong and we kept coming back and unfortunately we couldn’t get that last goal but we were working hard and it gave us some energy that we needed, Baldi said.
The Kingsmen had five seniors on this team and Head Coach Dan Kuntz was extremely proud of the way they played throughout the season and career here at Cal Lutheran.
“I’m so proud of them because I think that they held it together even as they hurt. [They] didn’t have a great season or record but they kept it together they didn’t just split apart and get angry, they stayed together and fought through the whole thing. I’m proud of them,” Kuntz said.
Kuntz also expressed how proud he was of his team throughout the season and the amount of character they showed regardless of having a losing record.
“In one word I would say the team has spirit. Sometimes there’s a plan that we don’t know about and it’s not always in wins and losses and I think they kept that in their heart, it’s about being together,” Kuntz said. “Yes wins and losses are important, but in the end the experiences that we have as people together in these moments are things we carry with us forever.”
Overall the Kingsmen were outshot by Chapman 9-6. Larson led the Kingsmen in shots as he took two while Baldi, Nathan Davidson, Tyler Pascoe and Thiago Gaglianone all finished with one.
The Kingsmen finished the season (5-10-4, 4-9-3 SCIAC) making them 7th in the conference.
Ramsey Abushahla
Sports Editor
Published November 5, 2014