USAFA, Colo.,- After beating the three seed on Thursday, San Jose State dropped No. 2 Bakersfield, 1-0 Friday, to advance to the championship match on Sunday at the WAC men's soccer tournament,

The game was scoreless until Spartan Eric Mendez found the back of the net in the 77th minute scoring from 10 yards out after a scramble in front of the net. Manny Espinosa made seven saves in notching his third shutout of the season. The Roadrunners had several chances in the match where they outshot the Spartans 19-15 but couldn't convert as their season comes to an end.

“It was a game of two contrasting styles and unfortunately the physical direct approach won tonight,” said Bakersfield head coach Simon Tobin. “Credit to San Jose as they fought very hard; once again we missed some easy chances that came back to haunt us.”

Hugo Vinales (Fr., Palm Springs, Calif., Palm Springs HS), the hero in Thursday's 1-0 win over Kansas City, had four shots, two on goal for the 'Runners while five others players had at least one shot on the net but Espinoza managed to turn away all seven shots on goal to earn the win for San Jose State (4-12-14, 3-6-1 WAC). Anthony Perez (R-So., Fontana, Calif., Bloomington HS) also had six saves for Bakersfield.

Bakersfield ends the season 9-9-2 and 6-3-1 in their inaugural WAC season. Tobin says his young team this season has laid a strong foundation for the future.

“We are a young team and have learned an awful lot this season; I am really proud of this group and the future looks very bright,” Tobin said.

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