Men's Soccer Loses Defensive Battle with Linfield

Whittier College Men's Soccer lost its third game by a one-goal margin on September 14, when visiting Linfield College used a late goal to steal a 1-0 victory on Graham Soccer Field.  The Poets are 1-3 on the year.

The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half.  Whittier goalkeeper Michael Read '10 made five saves in the opening stanza before leaving due to injury.  He faced six shots and four corners kicks from the Linfield offense.  The Poets took four shots and forced just one save from Linfield goalie Jon Thompson. 

In the second half, Linfield applied a tremendous amount of offensive pressure, but the Poet defense and reserve goalie Paul Stepler-Camp '10 stood strong.  The Wildcats peppered the Whittier goal with 15 second half shots, and Stepler-Camp made six saves.  It wasn't until the 85^th minute that Linfield's Travis Issacs scored the eventual game-winner. 

The Poets begin SCIAC play in their next contest.  They host rival Occidental College on September 17 at 4:00pm.