SAN ANTONIO, Texas--CSU Bakersfield fell behind 3-0 at UIW before scoring two goals, but it wasn't enough as the Roadrunners dropped a 3-2 decision to the Cardinals in the Wednesday night WAC opener for both schools.

CSUB (2-3-2) had the best offensive chance through the first 25 minutes when Daniel Drier had a breakaway against UIW goalie Kieran O'Boyle. O'Boyle challenged Drier and made the save, but the rebound came out in front to Brian Celis. Celis' attempt went wide, resulting in a goal kick for the Cardinals.

Ben Conway gave UIW (5-2) the lead when he took a Dylan Kelly flick pass and scored in the 34th minute.  Another flick pass from Kelly set up O'Neal Moore who increased the lead with header 1:53 into the second half.  Moore added to the UIW tally with his second goal 13 minutes later.  

Julian Zamora got CSUB on the board with a little over 20 minutes to play when scored his second goal of the year off a Simon Doherty cross.  The Roadrunner cut the lead to one, when Zamora scored again with 16:55 to play.

“We gave ourselves a lot to do with some soft defending,” said CSUB head coach Richie Grant. “Once we went down 3-0, we played really well, scoring two great goals and pushing hard for the equalizer.”

CSUB threatened in the 84th minute when O'Boyle made a save on an Adam Arana shot. O'Boyle deflected the ball out, resulting in a Roadrunner corner kick. UIW knocked the ball out of bounds off a CSUB player, regaining the possession. CSU Bakersfield goalie Nicolas Clever joined the offense with a minute to go in attempt to tie the match.

The ploy nearly worked as playing 11-v-10, the offense worked the ball to Doherty in front, but his attempt was saved by O'Boyle with 50 seconds to go. A Daniel Drier shot was blocked with three seconds remaining, securing the victory for the Cardinals.

“It was a fair score and we will have to work hard and make sure that we are not in that situation again,” Grant said.

CSUB returns home Sunday when the Roadrunners host Pacific at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at Vallitix.com.

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