Getting The Ball Rolling

Thursday, September 8

Riverside, Calif.

4:30 PM

California Baptist University

2-0-0

Sonoma State

0-1-2

Sonoma State

California Baptist

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

Getting The Ball Rolling

9/8/2016 8:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Sammi Wellman, Director of Sports Information

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — After coming from behind to grab its first win of the season last week, California Baptist University came out fired up Thursday afternoon from the get-go and held on for a 2-1 win over Sonoma State.

The Lancers improve to 2-0-0 on the year, while the Seawolves drop to 0-1-2 with the result.

"I thought we started really well today," said Coach Coe Michaelson. "We jumped out to a deserved lead and really should have gotten more in the first half. SSU is a really good team. One of our major points with the guys was to get goals when we are on top of them, but just as important, to have the discipline to absorb some pressure when they are controlling things. Credit to the guys, we did that and got a really good win against a quality opponent."

Luca Tschaidse put the pressure on the Seawolves early, getting a shot on frame off in just the first minute of action.

The junior attacker found what he was looking for in the 15^th minute, however, after CBU drew a penalty kick. Tschaidse stepped up to take the kick and placed it into the back of the net with ease to make it 1-0 in favor of the home team.

CBU came out of halftime hoping to get add some insurance to the score line. Kyle Pizano gave the Lancers a good chance in the 60^th minute, but the SSU goalkeeper made the save to keep his team within one.

With just about 12 minutes left in the game, Aidan Apodaca struck gold for his fourth goal of the short season. Junior Guerra stripped a Seawolf of the ball and sent the ball across the face of the goal to Apodaca. The junior took one touch and powered it into the back of the net to extend CBU's lead to 2-0.

SSU kept hope as it drew a penalty kick on a red card with eight minutes left in the game. Noah Oyler came up huge for CBU, however, reading the PK correctly to make the save.

"It felt good [to make the save]," said Oyler. "I think it helped our team to cement our hold on the game and hopefully it gave our team some added confidence to finish the game strong. We wanted to play this game with a playoff mentality and I think that focus definitely helped us."

Up a man for the remaining minutes, the Seawolves managed to sneak in a goal in the final five seconds of the game, but it was a little too late as CBU secured the 2-1 victory.

"I was a little disappointed at the last goal we conceded, but the coaches told me not to let the last five seconds define today's game," said Oyler. "I am proud of my performance and the performance of our team to come out with the win. It was definitely a team effort and without everyone's help, it wouldn't be possible. Winning the game was the ultimate goal and I'm happy and feel blessed that I got to contribute to that."

The Lancers have a quick turnaround time as they host Chico State on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CBU then heads out on its first road trip of the year next week, just before PacWest action begins on Sept. 22.