The California Lutheran University Men’s Soccer team had a tough weekend. The Kingsmen went 0-2 with a 3-2 loss to the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Sept. 19, and a 5-1 loss against the Washington University in St. Louis bears on Sept. 20.

The Kingsmen took an early lead against the Sagehens on Saturday. Brandon Kearney, a defender for the Kingsmen scored his fourth goal of the season and the first goal of the game in the 14^th minute, putting Cal Lutheran up 1-0. In the 38^th minute the Sagehens scored to tie up the game at one.

In the second half Pomona-Pitzer scored again in the 51^st minute of the match. Almost immediately after, mid fielder Pedro Zaccarelli scored in the 53^rd minute to tie the game for the Kingsmen. This also gave Zaccarelli his second goal of the season.

Zaccarelli’s goal pushed the game into over time. In the 93^rd minute of the match, Pomona-Pitzer got the ball on a corner kick and on a loose ball Peter Rentzepis scored the winning goal.

“I believe we have the better team against most of the teams we play. For some reason we aren’t getting the results,” Zaccarelli said.

The Kingsmen went into Sunday’s game with a four game losing streak and seemed to be unable to catch a break.

The first goal of the game went to the Washington St. Louis Bears. Grant Baltes scored three minutes in, off of a corner kick by Jack West. Zaccarelli continued his strong play and was able to tie the game with a goal of his own in the 18^th minute of the first half, giving Zaccarelli three goals this season, the second highest on the team. This ended up being the only goal for the Kingsmen in this game.

“We did okay for a while there, we got scored on and then tied it. Then we loosened up defensively in front of the goal,” said head coach Daniel Kuntz. “Three quick goals and that’s the game. That pretty much took us out of it.”

As of late, the Kingsmen have struggled in the net.

After Zaccarelli tied up the game the Bears went on a tear. Scoring four goals within a ten-minute span. In the 24^th minute it was West, in the 30^th minute it was a corner kick, by Noah Lieberman, converted for a goal by Andrew Zingone, and then in the 35^th minute there were two goals by Drew Gottwald and Nick Knight. After two Cal Lutheran goalies failed to stop the Bears attack in the first half, the coaching staff put Sean Williams in to play the second half.

They have yet to name a keeper for the season, but Williams gave a strong showing in the second half. He played solid in the net with two saves, and played the entire half.

“He struggled a little bit yesterday,” said Kuntz about Williams’ play. “I think he did some reflection and knew that he had to improve his concentration and had to take control of the area where he can use his hands, and he did that today.”

One of the captains for the Kingsmen, Tal Zaiet, played in almost all 90 minutes of the game. He had a big impact, helping the team keep possession of the ball for a good portion of the game.

“I think we did a lot well in the game,” Zaiet said. “Offensively we managed to have a good amount of possession. Throughout the game and first half. That created a lot of chances.”

The Kingsmen will try to turn their luck as they play on Sept. 23 against the Caltech Beavers at 7:00pm inside of William Rolland Stadium.

Courtney Sooy
Staff Writer
Published September 23rd, 2015