California Baptist University
5-7-5, 4-4-1
Utah Valley
8-5-4, 3-3-2
Lancers Close Out the Regular Season Against Utah Valley
11/3/2024 9:08:00 PM | Men's Soccer
RIVERSIDE - California Baptist men's soccer took on Utah Valley in the season finale on Sunday night, doubling as Senior Night for seven Lancers. The Wolverines needed a win, and only a win, to make it into the Western Athletic Conference Tournament that starts next week, and that is what they got after scoring just 20 seconds into the game for the 1-0 win.
The Wolverines (8-5-4, 3-3-2 WAC) earned the No. 4 seed with the win by virtue of points per game tiebreakers brought into action by the cancelation of their game with San Diego State earlier this week. CBU (5-7-5, 4-4-1 WAC) was locked in the No. 3 seed before any of today's action began.
"Tonight was a difficult situation. With UVU fully rested and our seeding assured, we had to be wise about how we managed the game, particularly players who were carrying knocks or one yellow from suspension," reflected Head Coach Coe Michaelson after the season finale. He added, "With that said, we wanted to win, and it's unfortunate one early mistake cost us. Regardless, we are excited to be the 3 seed for the tournament next week, and we look forward to competing for a third consecutive conference title."
The early goal came from Omar Yehya, the WAC's leading goal scorer, the only player in the conference this year to eclipse double-digit goals with an even dozen. After that conversion, the teams locked down on defense and only combined to get three more shots on goal for the remaining 89 minutes. The next best chance came from a CBU corner kick in the 14th minute when a Lancer free kick found the head of Otto Gustafsson who sent it to the far post and was off by inches, sending the ball off the pole instead of into the net.
Graduate transfer Ethan Russell got his first start in goal tonight, giving Hugo Do Rego an extra break to rest up before the start of conference. The goal would have been difficult for any goalkeeper to deal with as the Wolverine attacker had taken advantage of a Lancer defender stumbling to get a one-on-one with Russell, but he did well for the rest of the night, preventing half a dozen more shots from even getting to the point of an issue.
As the No. 3 seed in the upcoming WAC Men's Soccer Tournament, the Lancers are set to face No. 6 Utah Tech at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on November 10. The Lancers defeated the Trailblazers in the conference opener in St. George on October 3, winning 2-1 on second-half goals from Blake D'Agostino and Luis Borrero. All WAC Tournament matches will be streamed live on ESPN+ with a live stats option available as well.
Team Stats
Omar Yehya (12)
GOAL by UVU Yehya, Omar.
00:20
