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StephonMarcano

Men's Soccer

CSUB Hits the Road to Take on GCU and UNLV

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After playing six of its first eight games at the Main Soccer Field, the CSU Bakersfield men's soccer team travels to Grand Canyon University and UNLV in search of their first conference points. 

The Roadrunners (2-6-0, 0-1-0 WAC) are coming off of a tough 2-1 defeat to San Jose State in the Western Athletic Conference opener.  CSUB fired 26 shots in the contest, the most since the Roadrunners ripped 26 shots against IPFW on September 7, 2014, but couldn't climb out of an early 2-0 hole. 

"I was really impressed," said CSUB head coach Richie Grant.  "If you look at the chances we created some really clear chances and were disappointed we couldn't get that second goal to even the game.  We are very encouraged by the young players and think we are ready to take on the challenge over the next 10 games.  We have some really talented young players that are commanding starting positions and having a big influence on our performances."

CSUB has regained one of their senior captains, Jacob Alatorre, while redshirt junior Rodrigo Sarmiento will continue to fill in for the other injured captain Detre Bell. 

"Jacob was the leader of the preseason camp and you could tell this guy wanted to have a great senior year.  He was leading on the training ground.  He was the voice, he was the presence.  His composure in training was really noticeable."

Sarmiento will continue to fill in for the injured Bell.  The redshirt junior earned his first career start against the Spartans on Saturday and made five stops. 
The road trip will be a difficult one for the young `Runners.  Grand Canyon (4-4-0, 1-0-0 WAC) was picked to finish sixth in the league, while UNLV (5-5-0, 0-1-0) was selected second. 

Series History - Grand Canyon
CSUB has dominated the all-time series between the two programs, owning a 23-6-1 record.  The series dates back to the 1985 season, with the Roadrunners winning eight of the first nine matches.  Since both programs have transitioned to Division I, CSUB leads the series 3-1-1, including a 3-2 overtime victory in Bakersfield last season. 

Grand Canyon held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in last season's matchup, but CSUB managed to even the score on both occasions.  Jeremie Charron scored his only goal of the season to tie it up for the first time in the 56th minute.  Sebastian Mentel assisted on Jamie Carey-Morrell's equalizer in the 79th minute and won the match just 3:52 in overtime as he found the back of the net off of a pass from Niklas Koerber.  The Lopes ripped 23 shots in the game, including 16 in the second half.  Detre Bell made a career-high 10 saves to earn the victory. 
 
Scouting the Lopes
Grand Canyon started off the season on fire, knocking off No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 20 Creighton to begin the year.  The Lopes shot up to No. 23 in the country after the victories, but lost to Evansville and SIU-Edwardsville to even their record to 2-2.  GCU scored a 1-0 win over Loyola Marymout before falling to Oral Roberts and Akron to close non-conference action.  In their WAC opener, the Lopes knocked off Incarnate Word 1-0. 
 
The Lopes use a balanced attack offensively as Calvin Kissi leads the team with two goals and four points.  Josh Drack is by far the most active player with 27 shots.  Marco Afonso is second on the squad with just 11 shots.  Nine players have a point for GCU and five players have scored.  George Tasouris has earned most of the time in goal and has made 32 saves and sports an impressive 0.88 goals against average with three shutouts. 
 
Series History - UNLV
CSUB also owns the lead in the all-time series with the Rebels, 8-3-2.  The last four games between the two teams have been extremely tight.  The programs tied in 2014 and 2015, with the Rebels claiming a 3-1 victory in 2016. 
 
Last season, CSUB shutout UNLV at the Main Soccer Field, earning a 1-0 victory.  Ricardo Soza scored the only goal of the match in the 50th minute on a deep cross by Sebastian Mentel.  Detre Bell registered six saves in the shutout win. 
 
Scouting the Rebels
Despite not receiving any first-place votes, UNLV was picked to finish second in the WAC.  The Rebels won their first three matches of the season, allowing just one goal to Evansville in the process.  UNLV surged to a 5-2 record, but are on a three-game losing streak heading into the weekend and have scored just one goal over the stretch. 
 
Marco Gonzales is the Rebels' top offensive threat with seven goals, three assists and 17 points.  His 34 shots lead the conference and he is second in the league in points.  Four players have two goals to add to the attack.  Nico Clasen tops the squad with four assists.  In goal, Enrique Adame has earned nine of the 10 starts, but Nathan Bohn started the most recent match against San Diego State.  Adame has produced two shouts and has a save percentage of .730. 
 
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Jamie Carey-Morrell

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell

D
6' 0"
Senior
Jacob Alatorre

#11 Jacob Alatorre

MF
5' 11"
Senior
Detre Bell

#1 Detre Bell

GK
5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
Jeremie Charron

#5 Jeremie Charron

D
5' 10"
Junior
Niklas Korber

#10 Niklas Korber

MF
5' 9"
Junior
Sebastian Mentel

#19 Sebastian Mentel

F
6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
Ricardo Soza

#15 Ricardo Soza

MF
5' 6"
Sophomore
Rodrigo Sarmiento

#22 Rodrigo Sarmiento

GK
6' 0"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Jamie Carey-Morrell

#4 Jamie Carey-Morrell

6' 0"
Senior
D
Jacob Alatorre

#11 Jacob Alatorre

5' 11"
Senior
MF
Detre Bell

#1 Detre Bell

5' 11"
Redshirt Sophomore
GK
Jeremie Charron

#5 Jeremie Charron

5' 10"
Junior
D
Niklas Korber

#10 Niklas Korber

5' 9"
Junior
MF
Sebastian Mentel

#19 Sebastian Mentel

6' 1"
Redshirt Senior
F
Ricardo Soza

#15 Ricardo Soza

5' 6"
Sophomore
MF
Rodrigo Sarmiento

#22 Rodrigo Sarmiento

6' 0"
Redshirt Junior
GK
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