CSUB Gearing Up for Critical Home Stretch

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield men's soccer team will host its final three regular season games at the Main Soccer Field over the next two weeks. This weekend the Roadrunners will welcome Houston Baptist on Friday night and Kansas City on Sunday night.

Despite sitting in 10^th in the conference standings, CSUB is in a favorable position to secure a spot in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The Roadrunners have never missed the postseason tournament since joining the league.

"When the schedule came out, we knew that these three games were going to be really important," said CSUB head coach Richie Grant. "None more important right now than Houston Baptist. The head-to-head becomes a huge factor now and the whole program is aware of the situation right now."

As the regular season winds down, Grand Canyon sits in the all-important seventh position at 3-4 as the WAC takes the top seven teams to the league tournament. They are followed by California Baptist, who is ineligible for postseason play during its transition to NCAA Division I. Houston Baptist is at 2-4-1 in ninth and CSUB is just behind at 2-5-1.

Friday night's game against Houston Baptist will be critical as the Roadrunners will need to win to get over the Huskies in the standings. The two teams will both close the season with Kansas City and California Baptist. Grand Canyon meanwhile has to play three of the top four teams in the league in Utah Valley, Air Force and at UNLV down the stretch.

Kickoff against the Huskies is set for 7:00 p.m. on Friday night, while Sunday's match against UMKC will begin at 6:00 p.m.

GOLDSMITH LEADING OFFENSE
Junior Ryan Goldsmith scored for the second straight weekend as he found the back of the net on Sunday against Incarnate Word. Goldsmith leads the team with five goals and 12 points. He has also been accurate with his 21 shots, placing 11 of them on the net. The junior ranks second on the team in both categories. In conference action, his three goals lead the team and his eight shots on goal also lead the squad.

SERIES HISTORY - HOUSTON BAPTIST
Houston Baptist and CSUB have played every year dating back to 2012. The Roadrunners hold a 4-2-1 record against the Huskies over that span and a 5-2-2 record overall. At home, the `Runners are 2-1-1 against Houston Baptist.

Last season, the Huskies defeated the Roadrunners 2-1 at Sorrels Field in Houston, Texas. Houston Baptist headed to halftime leading 1-0 on a goal by sophomore Abdullah Mirza and built a 2-0 lead in the 80th minute. Junior Dominick Faletto had assists on both goals, while senior Devon Grant assisted on the first. Jamie Carey-Morrell cut the lead in half in the 82nd minute on an assist by Niklas Koerber. Harrison Veith made five saves to earn the victory, while Detre Bell took the loss after making four saves.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Houston Baptist enters the Main Soccer Field on a three-game losing streak. The Huskies have suffered defeats to UTRGV, Air Force and UNLV in succession , with their last victory coming way back on October 5 in a 1-0 shutout of Incarnate Word. Houston Baptist started off the season strong with a 2-0 shutout of Utah Valley and a 2-2 tie against San Jose State. The Huskies currently sit ahead of the Roadrunners as the WAC race winds down. After Friday, both teams close the season with matches against California Baptist and Kansas City.
The Husky offense has been shutout in two straight matches and has been blanked four times on the season. Gianluca Natera leads Houston Baptist in nearly every offensive category. Natera has team-highs in goals (4), assists (5), points (13), shots (38) and shots on goal (17). Dominick Faletto is another Husky heavily involved in the attack as he has added three goals and a pair of assists on 23 shots.

Jorge Cabrera has started all but one match for the Huskies in the net and has earned clean sheets against Incarnate Word, Utah Valley, Oral Roberts and Saint Francis. On the season, Houston Baptist is allowing 1.69 goals per game. The Huskies allowed a total of nine goals against Seattle U and Air Force, but have relinquished just five goals in their other five conference matches.

SERIES HISTORY - KANSAS CITY
On Sunday, the Roadrunners will look to continue their domination of the Roos. CSUB has never lost to Kansasy City, owning a spotless 6-0 record in the all-time series, which dates back to the 2013 season. Three of those victories came against assistant coach Chris McGaughey, who served as the UMKC keeper during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The CSUB offense forced McGaughey to make 24 saves over the three victories.

Last season at the Main Soccer Field Sebastian Mentel found the back of the night on two occasions including a golden goal in the 97th minute to give CSUB the victory. Ricardo Soza picked up the on Mentel's first goal, which gave the `Runners a 1-0 advantage in the 59th minute. The Roadrunners beat current UMKC keeper Filippo Errico on both occasions.

SCOUTING THE KANGAROOS
The Kangaroos sit just behind CSUB in the conference standings entering the weekend. UMKC has conference wins over San Jose State and is coming off of a 2-1 upset win of Grand Canyon last Sunday. The Roos struggled in non-conference action, winning just once in six matches. UMKC defeated Oral Roberts 2-1 for their lone non-conference victory which included two losses to Missouri State.

The UMKC attack has struggled throughout the 2018 season, ranking last in the conference in nearly every statistical category both for the entire season and during just WAC games. The Roos have scored just nine goals in 14 matches this season and have been shutout seven times. Antoine Precheur is the only player on UMKC's roster with multiple goals (2) on the season. He has just eight shots on the year and a team-leading five points.

Defensively, the Roos have allowed exactly two goals per match through 14 matches. Errico Filippo sports a 3-9 record this season and has handled the majority of the time in the net.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell: D; 6' 0"; Senior

#1 Detre Bell: GK; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

#10 Niklas Korber: MF; 5' 9"; Junior

#19 Sebastian Mentel: F; 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior

#15 Ricardo Soza: MF; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#24 Ryan Goldsmith: F; 5' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell
: 6' 0"; Senior
: D

#1 Detre Bell
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore
: GK

#10 Niklas Korber
: 5' 9"; Junior
: MF

#19 Sebastian Mentel
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Senior
: F

#15 Ricardo Soza
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: MF

#24 Ryan Goldsmith
: 5' 8"; Junior
: F

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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CSUB Gearing Up for Critical Home Stretch

Players Mentioned

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell

#1 Detre Bell

#10 Niklas Korber

#19 Sebastian Mentel

#15 Ricardo Soza

#24 Ryan Goldsmith

Players Mentioned

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell

#1 Detre Bell

#10 Niklas Korber

#19 Sebastian Mentel

#15 Ricardo Soza

#24 Ryan Goldsmith