Box Score BAKERSFIELD, Calif.- Enrique Cardenas broke a scoreless tie in the 32nd minute and visiting UC Irvine would tack on two more tallies in the 51st and 62nd minutes defeating Bakersfield 3-0 Friday night at the Main Soccer Field.
The Roadrunners (2-4-1) managed to set the pace early on the 24th-ranked Anteaters (5-2-2) but Irvine, broke the early stalemate with the Cardenas score on a pair of shots, the first was stopped by Bakersfield goal keeper Antony Perez in front of the net, but Cardenas managed to score on the rebound back at his feet.
That wasn't the only time Cardenas made an impact in the game, he assisted on the second goal by UCI in the 51st minute finding Christopher Santana on the right side of the box before he chipped it in for the 2-0 lead. Cardenas also assisted on the third goal of the night, feeding a ball to Cameron Iwasa, who dribbled the touch line near the goal and found the far edge of the net on the resulting shot.
This was the third loss this season to a nationally-ranked opponent, but CSUB head coach Simon Tobin is optimistic that these results will pay dividends when conference play opens next week. The Roadrunners have one more non-conference game on Tuesday, Oct. 1 when they play at South Florida.
“This year, because we're a young team, everything is probably geared toward conference play,” Tobin said. “We go to South Florida who are another team who have been in the final eight the last few years, so I'm not doing my team any favors. There is nothing in conference that will be as good as Irvine, Indiana, Louisville, or South Florida. We are playing teams that are at the very elite level of Division I soccer.”
Bakersfield will play the aforementioned game at South Florida Tuesday night with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (EDT) before opening WAC play next Saturday, Oct. 6 at UNLV. That's the first of three-straight WAC games on the road as they play at San Jose State on Friday, Oct. 11 and at Seattle on Sunday, Oct. 13. CSUB returns to The Main Soccer Field for their WAC home opener on Friday, Oct. 18 against San Jose State.
