BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—With a place in the WAC Men's Soccer Tournament on the line, Bakersfield earned what it needed Sunday afternoon as the Roadrunners played Seattle U to a 0-0 tie on the Main Soccer Field. Getting the one point for the performance earned the Roadrunners the sixth and final spot in the league meet.

Coming into the day tied with Air Force (10 points), Bakersfield needed a Falcons loss or tie combined with a win or a tie of their own to advance to the postseason. The 'Runners saw part one of the plan be completed prior to the start of the 1 p.m. PST match when Houston Baptist defeated Air Force 2-1 in Houston.

“For that result to go our way, for Senior Day, you couldn't script it,” said Bakersfield head coach Richie Grant.

Bakersfield came out aggressive, outshooting the Redhawks 4-1 in the first 30 minutes. In the 31st minute Nicolas Clever (So., Cologne, Germany, Gesamtschule Kuerten) made a brilliant one-handed save of a Hamza Haddadi shot that was taken at close range.  

Seattle U pressed early with Clever clearing away an SU chance in the 49th minute. Joe Masumiya's (R-Sr., Lakewood, Calif., Lakewood HS) attempt two minutes later went just wide for CSUB.  Josh Greene had a wide open look in the 58th minute but the shot was wide right of the Bakersfield net. On the ensuing Roadrunner possession, SU goalie Shane Haworth turned away Christian Duarte's (Jr., Houston, Texas, Clear Springs HS) attempt inside the goalkeeper's area.

The teams played a scoreless 90 minutes. Seattle U had the first attempt of overtime when Alex Roldan's blast from the 18 was punched out of bounds by Clever. The Roadrunners pushed away the Redhawks' offense on the resulting corner kick. Duarte's shot was saved by Haworth who knocked the ball out of bounds. CSUB couldn't take advantage of the corner kick attempt. There was one shot in the second overtime, a Chase Hanson try, which went wide. The regular season ended in the scoreless draw.

Haworth, who entered the day leading the league in shutouts, earned his ninth in 18 starts for SU this season. He made a total of seven saves. Clever earned his fifth shutout of the year as he made two saves. Bakersfield outshot Seattle U 13-8. SU had five corner kicks compared to four for CSUB.

“I thought both goalies had good games,” Grant said. “We certainly had some chances to win it. The most important thing today was to not lose. Friday night was difficult, so there was an awful lot of tired legs on the field. I'm relieved for our senior players to have a crack at the conference championship. We had such a good September, but we struggled in October and I think it's a group that deserves a crack at the championship.”

With 11 points in league play, Bakersfield is the sixth seed and will play the third seed, Utah Valley Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Championship Field in Seattle. The match will be available on the WAC Digital Network for viewing at no charge.  The winner of the CSUB-UVU match will face the second seed, Seattle U on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

“I think, based on the way that we got to the conference championships, now we can just let our hair down and play. We have to get back to our September form,” Grant said. “If we can regain that confidence, that can be important going into the playoffs.”

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