Stretch Run Begins at Sacramento State, vs. UC Irvine

Bakersfield, Calif. – Sitting 2-2-0 and fourth in the Big West Conference standings, the CSU Bakersfield men's soccer team opens the stretch run at Sacramento State on Wednesday, Oct. 13, before welcoming UC Irvine to the Main Soccer Field on Saturday, Oct. 16. The Roadrunners have split each of their first two conference weekends and enter the week winners of three of their last five.

"We're competing for Big West points this weekend," said CSUB Head Coach Richie Grant. "We haven't seen UCI in a while, but we've had some great matches with Sacramento State over the years. Mike does a great job with the Hornet program, and we'll need to be ready to compete on Wednesday afternoon and again on Saturday at home."

The Roadrunners knocked off Cal State Fullerton in front of an announced crowd of 1,439 to pick up their second league win of the year a week ago. Sophomore captain Carlos Armendariz scored the games' only goal with his third penalty kick strike on the season.

Armendariz is now 5-for-6 in his CSUB career from the penalty spot, and his three goals this season are the most by a `Runner since Alberto Navarro finished the 2009 season 3-for-3.

Bakersfield was shutout last Saturday at league-leading UC Santa Barbara.

Senior Aodhan O'Hara continues to lead the Roadrunners in scoring with five goals. He remains in a tie for fifth place in the conference in goals and is Bakersfield's current Division I career scoring leader with 14 NCAA DI goals.

Niklas Roessler is the team's leading assist man with three, which places him in a tie for seventh in the Big West. Roessler spent two seasons at DII Salem before playing at Albany in 2019 and boasts 10 career helpers in 59 appearances.

Freshman Scott Pengelly and Sucre Herrera have split time in the CSUB goal over the last two weeks. Pengelly made six saves to beat CSUN in the `Runners' league opener, before Herrera turned in a clean sheet against Cal State Fullerton in his first career start.

Bakersfield leads the all-time series with Sacramento State 10-5-3, including an 8-3-3 margin in Division 1 competition and an 8-1-1 mark in the last 10 meetings.

Forward Tom Shepherd has scored half of his six career goals against the Hornets. The Cheshire, England, native potted a pair of goals in 2018's 5-4 overtime loss against Sac. State and tallied again in the `Runners' 5-2 win in 2019.

Armendariz scored two goals of his own during the 2019 win.

The Hornets are 3-7-3 overall, with a 1-1-2 league mark, and bring a young roster into this week's showdown, with just one upperclassman among their ten goal scorers this season.

Sophomore Michael Gonzalez leads the club with three goals and seven points, while Genaro Alfaro, Oscar Govea and Axel Ramirez each posting a pair of strikes this season.

Goalkeeper Ryan Curtis has been a mainstay in net for Sac. State, starting all 13 games in 2021, with a 1.49 goals against average and 53 saves.

UC Irvine and CSUB have met seven times in program history, with the Anteaters winning six of those games, including all four at the Division I level. The two teams are meeting for the first time since the 2013 season.

Kelvin Neumetzler is the Anteaters leading scorer, coming off the bench in 12 of 14 games to score three goals and eight points. Oscar Delgado, Ashish Chattha and Jake Means have each scored a pair of goals for UCI.

Gordon Botterill has been one of the Big West's top goalies in the first half of the season. Botterill has seen action in nine games with just seven goals against for a 0.77 goals against average and a robust .844 save percentage.

UCI is 4-7-2 this season but sits alone in third place with a 2-1-0 conference mark.

Saturday's contest with the Anteaters is just one of three remaining Bakersfield home games in 2021. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m., and tickets can be purchased online at GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.Blue.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Carlos Armendariz: MF; 5' 9"; Junior

#22 Sucre Herrera: GK; 6' 0"; Freshman

#9 Tom Shepherd: F; 6' 2"; Senior

#1 Scott Pengelly: GK; 6' 2"; Freshman

#11 Niklas Roessler: MF; 5' 11"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#10 Carlos Armendariz
: 5' 9"; Junior
: MF

#22 Sucre Herrera
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: GK

#9 Tom Shepherd
: 6' 2"; Senior
: F

#1 Scott Pengelly
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: GK

#11 Niklas Roessler
: 5' 11"; Senior
: MF

California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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Stretch Run Begins at Sacramento State, vs. UC Irvine

Players Mentioned

#10 Carlos Armendariz

#22 Sucre Herrera

#9 Tom Shepherd

#1 Scott Pengelly

#11 Niklas Roessler

Players Mentioned

#10 Carlos Armendariz

#22 Sucre Herrera

#9 Tom Shepherd

#1 Scott Pengelly

#11 Niklas Roessler