SEATTLE, Wash.—Edan Mendoza (Fr., Atlanta, Ga., Collins Hill HS) scored in the fifth round of penalty kicks to advance Bakersfield past Seattle U in the semifinals of the WAC Men's Soccer Tournament Friday night.

Christian Duarte (Jr., Houston, Texas, Clear Springs HS) put the Roadrunners in the lead when he scored off a Julian Zamora (R-Fr., Bakersfield, Calif., Golden Valley HS) pass in the 23rd minute. Seattle U tied the score in the 58th minute when he headed in an Ian Hines-Ike pass.

With the score knotted up at one, the teams advanced to penalty kicks. The Roadrunners made the decision to insert Anthony Perez (R-Jr., Fontana, Calif., Bloomington HS) in place of Nicolas Clever (So. Cologne, Germany, Gesamtschule Kuerten) as the CSUB goalkeeper after Clever played the full 110 minutes.

“Anthony is good at penalties, he's quick,” said Bakersfield head coach Richie Grant. “He's been in the No. 2 role all season, but we practiced in the week and he looked really sharp. We felt that if it went to penalties, we would make that decision.”

Seattle U went first in penalty kicks, and went up 1-0 on Hines-Ike's attempt. Mario Iniguez (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif., Taft College) missed his attempt against Red hawks' goalie Shane Haworth. Kyle Bjornthun missed in round two for Seattle U as Hugo Vinales (So., Palm Springs, Calif., Palm Springs) made his attempt to tie it up at one.

Alex Roldan put SU up 2-1 when he connected on his attempt in round three. Joe Masumiya (R-Sr., Lakewood, Calif., Lakewood HS) tied it at three when he scored against Haworth (who led the WAC in shutouts this season with nine). Hamza Haddadi and Simon Doherty (Jr., West Lothian, Scotland, FDU) both scored in round four to make it 3-3. Perez blocked Chase Hanson's attempt to begin round five, setting the stage for Mendoza's successful attempt.  Officially, the match goes down as a 1-1 tie with the 'Runners advancing to the next round of postseason.

“I really want to congratulate Seattle U on the way that they have hosted this tournament,” Grant said. “What Pete has down with this program, they were a class tonight. That was two good teams and it's just a shame. It's a tough way to lose a game and a nice way to win it. Congratulations to them on a great season. I hope they get a bid.”

Bakersfield, the sixth seed, advances to Sunday's finals where the 'Runners will face the No. 1 seed, and regular season champion, UNLV at 1 p.m. Bakersfield defeated the Rebels 2-1 Oct. 31 in Las Vegas.

“We played UNLV at their place. It's going to be difficult,” Grant said. “We're just thankful to have a day off tomorrow to try to get our legs back. We've been playing well, so, we just need to keep it going.”

~www.GoRunners.com~