LOS ANGELES – The Loyola Marymount men's soccer team (1-0) took a 3-2 victory over UC Riverside (0-1) in its season-opening match at home on Friday night.
 
UCR got on the board early, capitalizing on a foul in the box and sinking a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead just 2:43 into the action. LMU didn't trail for long, though, as sophomore Francis Avoce tied things up 1-1 by landing a header in the back of the net off a cross from senior Antonio Porreco.
 
Porreco went on to net a penalty kick at the 18:35 mark, giving the Lions a 2-1 edge, and junior Will Dubay extended LMU's lead just before the half on a tap in to the left side of the goal from a pass up the middle by sophomore Enrique Bustamante.
 
The second half was all defense, but the Highlanders were able to strike once more in the final minute to cut the Lions lead to 3-2, which would be the final score.
 
"It feels good [to get the win]," Head Coach Paul Krumpe said. "We went down with an early penalty two minutes into the game and it was good character by the guys to continue to pull themselves up and fight their way back. To get three goals in the first half and respond that way was pretty impressive.

Loyola Marymount keeper Paul Lewis played the full 90 minutes and secured five saves in the win. The Lions and Highlanders each tallied 11 shots in the match, and LMU held a 7-2 edge in corner kicks.
 
"The other part about this is we're still figuring each other out," Krumpe continued. "We started three freshmen and probably five got playing time, so us figuring all of this out is really good. Riverside is a tough team to beat. They work very, very hard, and they made things very difficult for us, and dangerous. I think it was dangerous on both ends, but it was a well-fought college soccer match."
 
The Lions return home on Sunday for a 4 p.m. matchup vs. St. John's in the second game of a double-header with the LMU women's team who plays Northeastern at 1 p.m.