Men's Soccer Defends WAC Crown, Earns Second-Straight Trip to NCAA Tournament

Saturday, November 11

Las Vegas, NV

1 PM

California Baptist University

9-5-4, 5-1-2

UNLV

7-8-4, 3-3-2

Team	1	2	Final F
California Baptist	1	1	2
UNLV	0	1	1

Men's Soccer Defends WAC Crown, Earns Second-Straight Trip to NCAA Tournament

11/11/2023 8:19:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Daniel Cook, Director of Athletics Communications & Digital Media

LAS VEGAS - California Baptist University men's soccer managed to avoid penalty kicks this year, but the drama was nearly identical as 2022 as they earned a 2-1 victory over UNLV in the Western Athletic Conference championship game with a game-winner from Luis Mueller in the 82nd minute. While the Lancers never trailed in the game, the outcome was up for grabs until the final whistle against an uber-aggressive host Rebel team.

The result pushes CBU's WAC postseason record to 5-0 all-time while simultaneously handing UNLV their first championship game loss in program history. This win is historic in conference history as CBU is the first program to win back-to-back titles in the 14 years that men's soccer has been a sponsored sport in the WAC.

The Lancers placed four players on the All-Tournament team, with Nolan Premack, Thomas Beecham, and Leo Mendez earning repeat honors for their efforts this year. The top-scorer in the tournament, Luis Mueller, earned top honors as he was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player, scoring three goals and assisting another in CBU's two games.

CBU opened the scoring early again, with the first goal coming in the 19th minute when David Cordes played up a ball to Mendez, who quickly lobbed it over to Mueller, who was already in the box. Mueller jumped up and headed in the opener with ease.

UNLV would turn their attack up immediately, driving the action with pace and aggression, but unable to put any of their four shots in the goal before halftime.

The Rebels would keep up their attacking ways in the second half and found pay dirt in the 61st minute as chaos in the Lancers defensive box eventually gave way to the UNLV equalizer.

Nerves were high as the game marched on. The deeper the draw went, the higher the tensions and the game became physical. CBU turned the pace on UNLV and began pestering the Rebels 18-yard with consistency. After a handful of empty trips, Mueller would bend in a shot that snuck into the far post to give CBU the winning margin.

CBU would repel a handful of UNLV attempts, but the Rebels would only manage a single off-target shot after the Lancers retook the lead and never genuinely threatened before the final horn.

The Lancers now hurry up and wait for Monday morning when the NCAA Soccer Championship Selection Show will reveal their fate for next week's round action. With the Seattle U Redhawks essentially guaranteed an at-large bid, multiple teams on the national stage will represent the WAC for the fifth time since 2017.