PASADENA (Sept. 21, 2017) – Freshman Gianfranco de Castro (Weston, Fla. / Cypress Bay) scored an early goal-of-the-year candidate Thursday when Caltech Men’s Soccer hosted the University of La Verne.de Castro, who scored his team-leading third goal of the season, connected on a header in stride thanks to a perfect pass from sophomore forward Kevin Yu (Park Ridge, N.J. / Park Ridge). With the ball in the air, de Castro showcased his great soccer sense, placing the shot in the left side of the net to freeze the opposing keeper, all within a matter of two seconds. de Castro led his side individually with two shots, both of which found a path to the net. Yu had one shot on goal.
The freshman attacker’s goal came just over two minutes into the game, meaning the host Beavers still had 88 minutes to protect the lead. Head Coach Phil Murray’s squad was successful in doing so for the first 45 minutes, but the Caltech defense wore down in the second half as the Leopards eventually imposed their will and put things out of reach. The visitors did not score their first goal until the 48-minute mark, a testament to the Beavers’ defensive workrate. Freshman goalkeeper Joe Como (Glen Cove, N.Y. / Friends Acad.) did his part with four saves. Freshman forwards Charles Thut (Dover, N.H. / Berwick Acad.) and Rohan Mirchandani (Pleasanton, Calif. / Foothill) also generated chances for the Beavers.
Head Coach Phil Murray and the Beavers will return to North Field on Saturday, Sept. 22 to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at 11 a.m.
[original article: http://www.gocaltech.com/sports/msoc/2017-18/releases/201709225c72xx]