PASADENA, Calif. –  La Verne scored early in each half and played solid defense when needed in posting a 3-0 victory over Caltech in a SCIAC men's soccer match-up on Wednesday afternoon.

The first scoring chance of the afternoon came less than two minutes into the contest when Kumni Jeje's shot from 15 yards was blocked by a Leopards defender. In the ninth minute a header by the Beavers Mitchel Arene was saved by La Verne goalie Jonathyn Lomeli to keep the scored knotted at zero.

The only goal in the first half came in the 16th minute when Abdullah Alhardshan controlled a bouncing ball in the middle of the field and rocketed a shot past Beaver goalie Wesley Swank from 25 yards. The visitors had two other shots on goal in the opening frame but Swank kept the Caltech deficit at 1-0.

Ryan Estrada put La Verne up 2-0 in the 54th minute when he took a feed from Fernando Almejo before putting the ball in the back of the net. Caltech responded a few minutes later with two scoring chances inside the box but Lomeli made the save on both shots.

La Verne all but put the game out of reach with an Erek Brown goal in the 80th minute to seal the win.

The visitors held a 15-10 edge in total shots while posting a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Lomeli made four saves to earn the shutout for the Leopards.