California Baptist University
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The Master's University
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Men's Soccer Opens Season with a Draw in Santa Clarita
2/9/2021 5:30:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Five freshmen got the starting nod in the road opener: Antonio Gomez, Thomas Beecham, Liad Mordechi, Bryan Iliohan, and Luis Mueller. AÂ total of seven saw playing time throughout the game when Lincoln Aquino and Leo Mendez made appearances later in the match.
One of those starting freshmen, the 6-2 German forward Mueller, claimed the season's first shot on goal early in the first half. Mueller also pushed the pace, absorbing a pair of hard tackles that both resulted in Mustang yellow cards. In total, TMU received five yellow cards during the match to CBU's one.
The second half saw a different pace from the Mustangs, as they began to push the action offensively. Eventually, TMU was presented with its best opportunity to take control of the game, as they were awarded a penalty kick in the 62nd minute, but junior goalkeeper Gage Rogers read it the whole way and took the roller to his left side with relative ease, denying the Mustangs their first goal of the year.
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Gage Rogers earns his first save of the year on a penalty kick!!! Wowowow! Still tied at nil!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/nAhYrtOJct— CBU Men's Soccer (@CBUmsoccer) February 10, 2021
As the sun settled behind the mountains and darkness took over the field, both teams began to up their attacking efforts. A CBU chance in the 88th minute exploded off of the right foot of Mendez from just outside the box, but the shot stayed up just a split second too long and rattled the crossbar instead.
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Leo Mendez fires an absolute rocket off his right foot that just misses sneaking in under the crossbar! #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/PUHKdLIKYI— CBU Men's Soccer (@CBUmsoccer) February 10, 2021
The teams would go on to battle it out for an extra 20 minutes in overtime, but neither would manage a sudden-victory goal. TMU was nearly victorious in the 92nd minute when a lengthy free-kick found its way bouncing behind the Lancers' defensive line before Gomez rushed over to the launch the ball off the goal line, saving a sure goal by inches.
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A Master's free kick is tipped behind the CBU defense, but freshman Antonio Gomez is perfectly positioned to save the game!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/KG6fZD4OHk— CBU Men's Soccer (@CBUmsoccer) February 10, 2021
In his first career start Gage Rogers performed wonderfully, being forced to make just one official save, but deterring much more than the stat sheet implies. Mendez (3), Mueller (2), and Iliohan (1) recorded all six of the Lancers shots on goal in the match.
"We haven't played a college soccer game in more than 450 days, we had a lot of guys getting their first college minutes, and it showed at times today," said Head Coach Coe Michaelson after the game. "But, we are thankful to have the opportunity to finally get this first game in and work out some kinks, so we look forward to learning, growing and moving forward."
WHAT'S NEXT
CBU will prepare for both its first home and first conference game of the season against Dixie State at the OC Great Park in Irvine on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 pm.
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