LA VERNE, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's soccer team improved to 5-5-1 on the season with a 3-1 road victory over the La Verne Leopards on Thursday night. The Banana Slugs struck twice in the first half and added an insurance goal in the second to earn the 3-1 win with goals from Zander Crawford, Soren Groessl, and Jackson Chandler. UC Santa Cruz will remain in Southern California for their next contest as they travel to California Lutheran on Oct. 11 at 4:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs controlled the action against La Verne, outshooting ULV 19-7 overall while earning seven corners to La Verne's four. After an early shot from La Verne, the Banana Slugs rattled off three quick shots before Tobias Jacobson-Bell was tested on a solid shot from ULV, but the Banana Slugs keeper was there to make the save. From there, the Banana Slugs took control, pinning the Leopards in their defensive third, recording five shots before Zander Crawford struck the back of the net in the 17th minute to make it 1-0. UC Santa Cruz didn't stop there, scoring just under 15 minutes late as Kotetsu Horike found Soren Groessl who put it in the back of the net to double UCSC's lead to 2-0.

After the halftime break, UCSC continued to attack but was held off the board until the 78th minute when Jackson Chandler beat the keeper to put UC Santa Cruz up 3-0. In the 84th minute, the Leopards were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box and capitalized on the opportunity with a strike right down the middle to cut the lead to 3-1. Despite a late corner and shot attempt from ULV, the Banana Slugs played well down the stretch to earn the 3-1 victory over the Leopards.