Riverside, Calif. - Mingyu Wee scored two goals on the night, leading the Golden Eagles (2-2, 1-0) to a 2-0 victory over Hope International (3-3), in tonight's home opener. The Royals entered tonight's match receiving votes for the NAIA Top 25 rankings for men's soccer, but La Sierra put in a solid performance in a dominating victory, in their home debut.
Goalkeeper Robert Rodriquez put in a great effort between the pipes, for his second win of the season, making a couple of acrobatic saves to keep the Royals off the scoreboard. He also had the help of his defenders who also added to the team effort by blocking five shots that otherwise would have found the back of the net.
The Royals kept up their pressure for the entire match, but time and time again they were stalled by the stellar effort of the Golden Eagles defense. Hope International outshot La Sierra, 14-9 in total shots and 8-5 in shots on goal. But it was the Golden Eagles who made their shots count.
Wee scored his first goal (28th minute) when Raymundo Maldonado connected with him in stride. He easily dodged the final defender and made a final move to avoid the Royals goalkeeper who came out of his goal. Wee was left with a sharp angle and a small window to shoot, but managed to find the net while sliding across the end line.
He added his second goal late in the second half (42nd minute), on an assist from Youngbae Kweon. After the Royals were whistled for a foul just outside of the penalty box, Kweon found Wee with a crafty pass and Wee did the rest by heading the ball in, just inside of the right post.
It's the second win in a row for the Golden Eagles who are back at .500 after starting the season by losing their first two matches. They will now focus their attention on two big Cal Pac Conference matches coming up this weekend. On Friday, the team will host Simpson University (1-4), at 1pm, followed by a match with the University of California-Merced (3-1-1), on Sunday, at 12pm.
