Caltech Men’s Soccer Routs La Verne

Caltech Men’s Soccer faced the University of La Verne Leopards Saturday night under the lights at Ortmayer Stadium and came away with a 4-1 statement victory.

The Beavers played with intensity from the opening kickoff, managing a pair of shots in the first three minutes, while La Verne replied with a pair of shots of their own. After much back-and-forth, first-year Matthew Luk (Bel Air, Md. / Milton Wright) made a break toward goal in the 27^th minute and was tripped up by a La Verne defender inside the penalty area, and junior Ishaan Mantripragada (Saratoga, Calif. / Harker School) converted the ensuing penalty kick to open the scoring with his seventh goal of the season.

The teams traded attempts at goal over the next several minutes before senior Alex Gogola (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit College Prep) netted his first goal as a Beaver, burying a rebound from 12 yards out and doubling his team’s lead in the 34^th minute.
After halftime, junior Etienne Casanova (San Jose, Calif. / Saratoga) put the game away with two goals in the first six minutes of the second half, with assists from Luk and then senior Andy Dimnaku (Wellesley, Mass. / Wellesley) who found him unmarked in close range.

With 23 career goals, Casanova holds the all-time record in Caltech Men’s Soccer history. The previous record was 21 goals, which was a two-way tie with Mantripragada from the 27^th to 47^th minute of tonight’s match.

The Leopards would get on the board in the 84^th minute, but the damage was done as Caltech held on for its fifth-consecutive win over the Leopards dating back to 2019.

“A great performance from the whole team,” said Head Coach Duncan Gillis. “Very proud of the boys, and happy to see their hard work pay off.”

Gillis and the Beavers will continue their SCIAC campaign at home Wednesday, Oct. 2 against the Whittier College Poets.