HOUSTON, Texas—Playing in front of his hometown for the final time, CSU Bakersfield senior Christian Duarte scored the go-ahead goal with just over 10 minutes to play as the Roadrunners defeated Houston Baptist 4-2 in Western Athletic Conference men's soccer action Friday night.

CSUB scored three of their four goals off of set pieces. After a Huskies' foul, Jamie Carey-Morrell broke the seal at the 2:19 mark when he scored off a free kick. The Roadrunners struck again in the eighth minute. After a corner kick, a Carey-Morrell pass found Simon Doherty in front for the second goal.

“We played some great football in the opening 30 minutes and deserved the 2-0 lead,” said Roadrunner head coach Richie Grant.

Marcelo Acuna got Houston Baptist on the board in the 31st minute when he beat CSUB goalie Nicolas Clever to the near side.  Acuna tied the match in the 78th minute when he again drove the ball past Clever on the near side.  

“We were disappointed to concede the first goal and it gave Houston Baptist some momentum,” said Grant.

HBU's Darrell Johnson was called for a foul and his subsequent yellow card set the stage for Duarte. Duarte connected on the free kick from just outside the goalkeeper's box at 79:58. Julian Zamora added an insurance goal, his team leading eighth, with 32 seconds remaining to make it the final 4-2.

“Christian was a real leader with his free kick and Julian wrapped up three important points,” Grant said. “We had some great periods in the game tonight. But in the end our toughness won us the game.”

The Roadrunners, who two weeks ago sat in 10th place in the WAC, are now in third with Friday's victory. CSUB (7-4-4) has 14 points in league play (4-2-2), moving past UNLV (13, 4-3-1, 10-5-1) who lost 3-2 at Missouri-Kansas City Friday.

The Roadrunners issued the Huskies their first home loss of the season. Houston Baptist was 4-0-1 at home entering the night including a pair of wins over then No. 23 Seattle U and No. 25 Utah Valley in the same week earlier this season.

CSUB concludes their Texas swing Sunday when CSUB travels to UTRGV. Kick is set for 1 p.m. (CST). The match can be seen on the WAC Digital Network.

~www.GoRunners.com~