California Baptist University
5-5-3, 3-1-1
UNLV
5-5-4, 3-1-2
Men's Soccer Plays to Late Draw with UNLV
10/19/2023 10:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer
RIVERSIDE - California Baptist University men's soccer played their penultimate home game of the season on Thursday night against the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels, scoring first but eventually settling for a 1-1 draw. The result moves the Lancers to 5-5-3 on the year and 3-1-1 in Western Athletic Conference play.
More importantly, it gives the Lancers 10 points in the WAC table, putting them in a tie for fourth place with San Jose State. Seattle leads the regular season with 13 points, followed by Utah Tech and UNLV at 12, with all of those programs except Seattle having played one more game than CBU at this point on the schedule. The race for postseason seeding is still far too close to decipher but is becoming clearer daily.
Head Men's Soccer Coach Coe Michaelson explained his feelings on the two halves of tonight's game, stating, "The first half performance was not up to our standards, and while we reacted well and looked like ourselves second half, a combination of missed chances and one bad moment defending a counter-attack and we have drawn. While their goal was against the run of play, we cannot feel unlucky when we only played one-half tonight. We expect more of ourselves going forward as we head into the final part of our season."
The first half was a wildly aggressive 45 minutes from the Rebels, who tallied 11 shots in the first half. Senior goalkeeper Nolan Premack made six of his season-high seven saves in that opening half, getting some backup from senior center back Thomas Beecham in a clutch moment.
CBU did earn a penalty kick in the first half, but the UNLV goalkeeper was the first such defender to match Luis Mueller's effort in four years, blocking the shot low and to his left.
Mueller would get his revenge in the second half, though, drilling a free kick from 20 yards out as he's done so many times before, giving CBU a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute.
The Rebels would continue to press the action and eventually leveled the score in the 82nd minute.
The Lancers' final home game of the season will occur on Sunday, October 22, when CBU hosts the Trailblazers of Utah Tech. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m., but be sure to get there early to partake in pregame Senior Night festivities.
Team Stats
Luis Mueller (5)
GOAL by CBU Mueller, Luis.
67:06
Lucas Gelebart (2)
Assisted By: Brophy Howard
GOAL by UNLV Gelebart, Lucas Assist by Howard, Brophy.
81:13
