Popple Scores for Vikings, But UCSC Finishes With Victory

Reid Popple scored for Berry, but the Vikings dropped a 2-1 decision to UC Santa Cruz Saturday on a neutral field at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Popple found the net in the 15th minute, receiving a pass from Zak Wallingford outside the box and firing into the lower right side of the net to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

But less than three minutes later, the Banana Slugs would tie the score on a goal from Ben Middlemess, who chipped it in from twenty yards out.

That 1-1 score would hold through the rest of the first half and through the first 16 minutes of the second half, before Zach Hummell would dribble through the Berry defense and insert the ball into the lower left portion of the goal for what turned out to be the match-winning goal.

That shooting statistics were nearly identical for the teams, with each squad firing off 12 shots in the match.  Three of Berry's shots came on target, while UCSC had four shots on goal.

Vikings goalkeeper Kevin Madigan and Banana Slugs goalie Nate Levinson each made a pair of saves.

Berry will take a day off before returning to action at Chapman University Monday at 10 p.m. (Eastern).

Photo courtesy Josh Dollahite

- BerryVikings.com -