BAKERSFIELD, Calif. –
Lyle Martin finished his collegiate career with a flurry, scoring two goals and assisting a third to lead Bakersfield to a 3-1 win over Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday afternoon at the Main Soccer Field.
With the win, Bakersfield finished second in the CCAA South Division after Cal State L.A. also won on Sunday to earn the division title.
Martin's five-point performance on Sunday followed a six-point masterpiece on Friday night to give him four goals and three assists in his final two matches as a Roadrunner.
Martin won the CCAA goal-scoring title with 17 goals on the season, which also ties for the second-most single-season goals in Bakersfield history. Martin is now tied with Jeremy Gunn, who also scored 17 goals in 1992, and will sit behind school-record holder Joey Mejias, who scored 19 goals in 2002.
Martin also becomes just the fourth Roadrunner to score 40 points in a season after he finished 2006 with 17 goals and six assists. He ranks in a tie for No. 3 with Ayman Hamid (1994) and Mejias (2002). He is also just the fourth Roadrunner to reach 70 points in his career.
The Martin outburst came late in a match that could be described as listless at best. Neither team seemed to have much energy on the warm Bakersfield afternoon and their performance on the field showed it, especially in the first half. The teams combined for just 11 first-half shots with few even showing a bit of a chance at scoring.
Senior
Marcus Mulick had the best chance on a header that beat Pomona goalkeeper Ben Sussman but was cleared off the line by a defender to keep the match scoreless.
But Martin finally broke out midway through the second half.
Sammy Hernandez was taken down in the box and a penalty was given in the 69th minute. Martin took a quality penalty but Sussman guessed correctly and made the save. The ball rebounded right back to Martin, though, who put the ball in the back of the net for his 16th of the season.
Less than a minute after the goal, Pomona's Matthew Barker was shown a yellow card for dissent, and just 18 seconds after that was given another yellow and the ejection after a comment made to the referee.
Playing 11 vs. 10, Bakersfield turned up the heat and was clearly the better team in the second half, outshooting the Broncos 16-6 in the final 45 minutes. Martin earned his second goal in the 82nd minute when
Rigoberto Pinera sent a cross from the left side to the penalty spot where Martin slammed the ball home.
The match appeared to be over at that point, but Garrett Petry sent a cross in from the right side less than a minute later that Ben Van Der Fluit finished at the far post to narrow the margin to 2-1.
But Bakersfield finished the match off one minute after that when
Chris Rangel scored his first career goal on assists from Martin and
Towa Manda.