The Caltech men’s soccer team earned a 3-1 victory over the University of La Verne on Saturday morning as the Beavers competed in their final home contest of 2024.
The program honored its eight graduating seniors with a dedicated ceremony prior to the game.
Action kicked off just after 11 a.m. and the visiting Leopards began putting pressure on the Caltech defense, though the Beaver back line forced the opponents into off-targets.
It was not long until the Beavers began to create several strong chances, with rookie forward Matthew Luk (Bel Air, Md. / C. Milton Wright) firing an on-target shot from the top of the box in the 13th minute that was saved by the La Verne goalkeeper. Junior forward Jack Myles (Houston / Bridgeland) delivered a pair of shots in the following few moments but could not find the back of the net.
It was not much later before Caltech put through their first of three goals as junior midfielder Etienne Casanova (San Jose, Calif. / Saratoga) delivered a well-timed tackle on a Leopard midfielder, stealing the ball and pushing it ahead to Luk on the right side of the field. The first-year dribbled the ball into the top corner of the box before rocketing a shot past the keeper and into the net for his seventh goal this fall.
Caltech collected its second goal in the final minute of the opening half as junior forward Ishaan Mantripragada (Saratoga, Calif. / Harker School) received a throw-in from within the Beavers’ own backfield and passed the ball to Casanova; the Beaver dribbled up to midfield before returning the ball to Mantripragada who had sprinted down the right sideline. The attacker headed the ball in front of himself to split two Leopard defenders before rocketing a shot into the goal from the right side of the box, making it a 2-0 game at intermission.
The Beavers picked up where they left off as the second half began, putting pressure on the La Verne defense with several strong shots.
Caltech put the game out of reach with 20 minutes remaining in the match as Mantripragada took possession of the ball in the backfield before getting it to Casanova, who pushed it ahead to Mantripragada after he took off down the sideline. The midfielder passed the ball ahead to Luk, who dribbled the ball around the top left corner of the box before passing to Casanova, who immediately pushed the ball into the box and delivered a perfectly-placed goal into the top left corner of the net.
The Beavers protected the 3-0 lead until the final minutes as the Leopards put one through, though it was not enough as time expired and Caltech earned the victory. The result marks Caltech’s sixth straight win over the Leopards; the Beavers have not lost to the team since 2019.
Caltech ended the game with 13 recorded shots, eight of which came on target. Casanova, Myles, Luk, Mantripragada and senior forward Rohan Jha (Livingston, N.J. / Livingston) each registered one or more on-target shots.
Sophomore goalkeeper Ethan Hamel (Portola Valley, Woodside) recorded four saves. Casanova scored or assisted on all three of Caltech’s goals.
Head coach Duncan Gillis was proud of how the squad performed across all 90 minutes and for the leadership shown from its seniors — Jha, defender Andrew Chiang (Carlsbad, Calif. / Santa Fe Christian), midfielder Diego Garcia (Livingston, Calif. / Livingston), midfielder Alex Gogola (Houston / Strake Jesuit College Prep), defender Allen Yang (San Diego, Calif. / Del Norte), forward Andy Dimnaku (Wellesley, Mass. / Wellesley), defender Alejandro Ortega (Mexico City, Mexico / American School Foundation) and defender Joseph Sheeran (Kansas City, Mo. / The Barstow School).
“I’m very happy that these eight outstanding men were able to lead us to a good result in their final home game at North Field,” Gillis said. “Each of them have worked incredibly hard and given so much to the Caltech Men’s Soccer Program, and have made this team better both on and off the field,” he said.
“This win was a great way to honor all the dedication over the last four years from Andrew, Diego, Alex, Allen, Rohan, Andy, Ale and Joe.”
The Beavers will compete in their final game of the 2024 campaign this Saturday, Nov. 2 as they hit the road for a duel with Cal Lutheran University. Action kicks off at 7 p.m.; follow along online at GoCaltech.com/coverage.
Follow Caltech Men’s Soccer on Instagram and follow Caltech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram.
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