Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Nicolas Clever dove to his right on consecutive attempts coming up with two stops in the penalty kick phase as the Roadrunners defeated Houston Baptist 4-2 in penalties Thursday night in the opening round of the WAC men's soccer tournament.
Clever's first save came following HBU's Chance Pope stonewalling Christian Duarte's chance with penalties tied at two apiece. Pope dove to his right near the edge of the post to turn away the senior's shot. Clever then emulated that exact move while turning away HBU's Sebastian Henke on the following attempt. CSUB would take a 3-2 lead when Adam Arana netted his kick in the upper left corner.
Clever, who did not play in CSUB's two prior WAC Tournament penalty kick situations in 2014, turned away the next shot by Darrell Johnson making a similar save to his right near the post. That save set up senior Mario Iniguez who calmly buried the game-winner in the left side as the 'Runners advanced to the semifinals for the third-straight season. Hugo Vinales and Julian Zamora also netted their penalty kicks for CSUB.
The match officially goes in the books as a 0-0 draw. The Roadrunners had 17 shots in the match including three on goal. Their closest goal-scoring opportunity came in extra time when a Doherty shot hit the post in the 94th minute. Jamie Carey-Morrell also struck a free-kick that sailed just over the cross bar during the first extra-time period, he had four shots in the match for the Roadrunners.
“We created some great opportunities to win it within the 90 minutes and a couple more in extra time,” said head coach Richie Grant. “[Samuel] Zimmerman made a super tackle in extra time to keep us in it and Nick was outstanding with the penalties.”
Houston Baptist managed 13 shots with three on goal as well with Clever registering three saves while earning his 11th career shutout. The Roadrunners played to a scoreless draw for the fourth time this season.
The Roadrunners will now take on top-seeded Seattle U Friday night at 7:30 P.M. (CT) in a rematch of last season's semifinal. The Roadrunners advanced in that contest in penalty kicks but were defeated this season in Seattle 3-1 at Championship Field. Third-seeded UNLV defeated San Jose State in the first match of the tournament on Thursday 3-1 and will take on second-seeded Utah Valley Friday.
Coverage of Friday's match is available on the WAC Digital Network at www.WacSports.com/live.
