Men’s soccer: Lions drop opener to CSU Dominguez Hills

Tony Altobelli

CARSON - The Vanguard University men’s soccer team learned the

importance of bench players during Saturday’s 4-1 nonconference loss to

host Cal State Dominguez Hills.

With only 13 players, the Lions put forth a strong effort against the

defending NCAA Division II champion Toros, but showed some understandable

fatigue in the second half.

“We’re a little short-handed and a little banged up to start the

season, which is never easy,” Lions assistant coach Fred Goff said.

“Considering the numbers on our side, we did a great job of battling.”

A smaller-than-normal Lions team got even smaller in the first half of

play when standout junior forward Tomas Serna banged up his right leg on

a collision.

“He’s going to be all right, but we wanted to play it safe,” Goff

said. “We’re going to need him big time later in the season. No need to

risk losing him during a nonconference matchup.”

Playing with five freshman at the same time, the Lions fought off wave

after wave of Toro attacks and battled to a 0-0 tie in the first half.

“There was a lot of OJT today,” Goff joked. “On the Job Training. But

there’s a lot of talent on this team.”

After outshooting the Lions, 12-4, in the first half, Dominguez Hills,

ranked No. 1 in the nation at the Division II level, found the scoreboard

in the 47th minute when Isidro Torres recovered a loose ball and fed a

perfect pass to Eddie Gonzales-Pinto, who ripped a shot into the

upper-left corner of the goal for a 1-0 Toros’ lead.

Gonzales-Pinto scored again 18 minutes later after VU goalie Tommaso

Bianchi made the initial save but could not corral the ball.

Just four minutes later, Scott White took a nice crossfield pass from

Gonzales-Pinto and headed the ball into the net for a 3-0 lead.

The Lions refused to roll over and die. Off a free kick, freshman

Armando Ortiz (Estancia High) touch-passed the ball to Christian Diaz,

who fed freshman forward Matt Hess. Hess buried the shot into the

lower-right corner of the goal in the 80th minute and cut the deficit to

3-1.

But it was too little, too late as Dominguez Hills scored again on a

penalty kick by Torres a minute later.

Toros’ goalie Luis Morales had five saves, while Bianchi had three

saves for the Lions. The Toros outshot the Lions, 26-11.

The Lions will compete in the Cal State Sonoma Tournament, beginning

Friday at 5 p.m.