BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Needing a victory or a tie to qualify for the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament, CSU Bakersfield came through with a 1-0 victory over Houston Baptist Saturday night on the Main Soccer Field.

In a fairly quiet first half, redshirt junior Julian Zamora provided a spark for the 'Runner offense after coming off the bench in the 26th minute. Less than two minutes after his entry, the Bakersfield native gave CSUB its best chance on goal of the half with a strong blast that just missed the far post. Later in the period, Zamora took another hard shot that was saved by HBU's goalie to keep the match scoreless.

At 43:33, the 'Runners snuck in a go-ahead goal off of the foot of freshman Louis Lapouge. The native of France was taken down on the right corner of the box. Lapouge took the free kick, curled the ball around the HBU wall, and beat a diving keeper to give the 'Runners a one-goal advantage with his second of the season.

The Roadrunners continue to press in the second half, taking eight shots compared to three for Huskies. HBU goalie Chance Pope would make all four of his saves into the second half. CSUB would outshoot Houston Baptist (5-11-1, 3-7 WAC) 12-8. Roadrunner goalie Nicolas Clever made two saves during his 14th career shutout.

“We have a young team, so they don't put pressure on themselves and thought they were worth four or five victories in the league,” said CSUB head coach Richie Grant. “We had some bad breaks and we responded well tonight.”

As the sixth seed in the WAC Tournament, the Roadrunners (6-12, 4-6 WAC) will take on the third seed, Air Force (12-6-1, 6-3-1 WAC), Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. (MT) on Clyde Field in Orem, Utah.

“We know we are playing Air Force,” Grant said. “That was the game during the regular season we probably let ourselves down the most. The most important thing was getting into this tournament. As a staff, we wanted it badly to have our young guys get the experience. We are more mature from the 18 games we played this season and we need to take that into the tournament.”

~www.GoRunners.com~