BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Despite playing without three of its top players and its head coach, the Cal State Bakersfield men's soccer team put together another stellar performance Friday night at the Main Soccer Field with a 4-1 win over Chico State.
The four-goal performance gives the Roadrunners (10-3-2, 6-3-2 CCAA) nine goals in their last two matches and 13 goals in the past four matches. And on Friday night, Bakersfield scored the four goals without leading scorer Lyle Martin, who missed the match due to a red-card suspension, and injured Towa Manda who is second on the team in assists and T.J. Brown, a top defender.
Head Coach Simon Tobin also missed the match because of the phantom red card that was not shown to him during Wednesday's match but was retroactively given to him. Women's Head Coach Nicole Van Dyke and Goalkeeper Coach Casey Liddle shared coaching duties for the Roadrunners.
On Friday night, it was freshman Rigoberto Pinera who showed Roadrunner fans who the top goal scorer of the future might be. Pinera was clinical around the goal and had two goals to show for his efforts in just 54 minutes of playing time. The two goals give him four goals in the last four matches for the Roadrunners.
Pinera got Bakersfield off to a strong start when he scored in just the ninth minute. Ryan Gay and Joe Polifroni played a quick bit of one-two on the left side which left Polifroni alone on the flank. He crossed the ball to the top of the box and found Pinera, who took one touch and finished past Chico State goalkeeper Brian Linné for the 1-0 lead.
The assist was Gay's 11th of the year, which places him in a tie for seventh all-time at Bakersfield for single-season assists.
Gay earned his third goal of the season in the 17th minute when Manny Garcia slipped the ball through the defense and left Gay alone with Linné. He finished the tough angle shot from the right side inside the far post for the 2-0 lead.
Pinera made it 3-0 in the 29th minute on an assist from Manny Guzman Pinera received the ball at the top of the box and buried a left-footed shot into the upper corner. Guilherme Mitrovitch put it out of reach with a curling left-footed free kick into the corner from 30 yards in the 79th minute.
Chico pushed everything forward in the end and eventually outshot Bakersfield with that late charge. Alexander Oceguera pulled one goal back in the 79th minute with a beautiful shot from 20 yards into the corner, but it was too little too late.
With the win, Bakersfield improved to 8-0-0 at the Main Soccer Field and still remains on track for its first 11-0-0 season at home in school history
The Roadrunners will look for their ninth consecutive win at home on Sunday when they host Cal State Stanislaus in a 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
California State University, Bakersfield Athletic Department
9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1022
Phone: (661) 654-3071 • FAX: (661) 654-2376
