RIVERSIDE - California Baptist University men's soccer put on the performance of the season so far on Sunday night, defeating Grand Canyon 3-0 in the Lancers' conference home opener. Leo Mendez held all the aces tonight against the Lopes, scoring two goals while assisting on the third on his way to posting the highest-scoring game of his CBU career.
"Tonight was the first time this fall we have had our full roster available, and the performance shows what we are capable of. GCU is an excellent team, but in the end, the scoreline didn't actually reflect the level of our dominance. It was a great way to open conference, but it's only one game, and we need to continue to set high standards," Head Coach Coe Michaelson reflected after the victory. He added, "I'm thrilled to have Thomas back. He's our captain, and together, he and Antonio are one of the best center-back pairings in the country."
The Lancers were in control from the start, owning both ends of the field and dictating play wire-to-wire. Mendez will likely never score an easier goal than the first goal of the night, which would prove to be the game-winner. A beautiful long pass from Lincoln Aquino led Leo into a footrace with a Lope defender and a charging goalkeeper. The GCU keeper misplayed the ball well out of the box, Mendez corralled it and saw an open net that might have looked the size of Mt. Rubidoux when he shot it and watched his third goal of the season roll in undefended in the 12th minute.
His follow-up was harder earned as the Lancers played in their second corner kick in a row, sent in by
Georg Bjarnason.
Stavros Charalampous brought it in and found a curling Mendez towards the top of the box. Mendez set himself up and kept it low, tucking goal number two inside the near post for his team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Coach Michaelson also praised his leading scorer after the career game, saying, "It's also great to see Leo performing at this level. He's so dangerous, as evidenced by two goals and an assist tonight. There were so many good performances. Now, we need to do it again on Thursday."
The game would remain 2-0 until late in the second half, but a night full of missed shots and thwarted attempts for the Lopes turned gameplay chippy after a while, ultimately resulting in a straight red card for GCU in the 83rd minute. The Lancers would take advantage of the opportunity with that man-advantage and score once more in the 89th minute. True freshman Luis Borrero would score his first collegiate goal from a Leo Mendez assist, bringing the game to its final scoreline of 3-0.
The Lancers improve to 3-4-2 on the year, but more importantly, begin the Western Athletic Conference slate with a win. This also marks the first against GCU since 2011 for the Lancers. California Baptist will look to lengthen their current three-game unbeaten streak next Thursday as they host UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.
