Men's soccer draws with first-place Sagehens

ORANGE, Calif. - Every time the Chapman University men's soccer team made a statement on Monday night, first-place Pomona-Pitzer Colleges had a response. The result after 110 minutes and two overtime periods was a 2-2 tie at Wilson Field in a meeting between two of the top teams in the SCIAC standings.

Chapman (7-5-2 overall, 7-4-2 SCIAC) entered the match in third place, looking to pick up ground on the top-standing Sagehens. And the Panthers looked as though they would get the win with a goal and a 2-1 lead in the 77th minute from sophomore M Daniel Malikyar, who was in the right spot to finish off a rebounded shot in the goalie box.

Nine minutes later however, Pomona-Pitzer (10-4-2 overall, 8-3-2 SCIAC) capitalized on a Chapman foul in the goalie box and Drew Lind scored on the ensuing penalty kick to tie the game at 2-2 and force the extra time. It was Lind's second goal of the game.

The Panthers pressured hard in the second overtime, taking five shots but just one on frame and both teams settled for the draw.

Looking to avenge a 1-0 loss on the road to the Sagehens last month, Chapman took a 1-0 lead very early on as junior M Gino Belassen took a pass from junior M Boston Kimmel and blasted a shot from just inside the 19-meter box past Pomona-Pitzer GK Nigel Grady. It was Belassen's third goal in his last two matches played. Grady finished the night with five saves.

But as they would do later, the Sagehens had an answer as Lind scored his first goal of the game just six minutes later to knot it at 1-1, where the score would stay until halftime.

Chapman out-shot Pomona-Pitzer 16-6 in the match.

An Occidental tie and a Redlands overtime win on Monday night muddied the top of the SCIAC standings a bit. The Panthers actually dropped into fourth place after the tie with three matches remaining, including a meeting with Caltech in Pasadena on Wednesday afternoon.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

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