Bakersfield - The California State University, Bakersfield Men's Soccer begins Big West Conference competition this Wednesday, with an Education Day matinee against visiting Sacramento State, with kick off set for 11 a.m. at The Main Soccer Field. The Roadrunners will close out their weekly slate on Saturday, with a trip to Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. Bakersfield knocked off both the Hornets and Titans last season, en route to a 5-4-0 league record and a #4 overall seed in the post-season conference tournament.
The Hornets enter the week as The Big West's top team with a 5-2-2 overall record, including a loss and a tie, last week, to San Francisco and UNLV, respectively. CSUB owns an 11-5-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, including last season's 2-0 win in Sacramento.
Bakersfield is 5-1-1 all-time against Cal State Fullerton, including last season's Viva Los 'Runners victory in Bakersfield on a Carlos Armendariz penalty kick goal. The Titans are 5-3-2 this season, and the conference's top-scoring team with 25 goals scored in just 10 games.
THIS WEEK...
vs Sacramento State (Wednesday, Sept. 29 - 7:00 PM) | Bakersfield, Calif. | Watch | Live Stats | Tickets
at Cal State Fullerton (Saturday, Oct. 2 - 7:00 PM) | Fullerton, Calif. | Watch | Live Stats | Tickets
ROADRUNNER QUICK STRIKES...
* Six Roadrunners have started all eight games this season - defenders Shammai Camara, Bryson Hankins, Juan Pablo Alvarez, midfielders Carlos Armendariz and Bilal Mihoubi and goalkeeper Filippo Dadone. Hankins leads the team in minutes played, seeing 716 of a possible 720 minutes of action.
* Bakersfield closed out the non-conference schedule with a 2-5-1 record and now sets its sights on The Big West Conference slate. All nine of CSUB's remaining contests will be played against league opponents, beginning with Wednesday's match up with Sacramento State. The 'Runners were 5-4-0 a season ago, finishing the season fourth in The Big West and earning the right to host a conference quarterfinal against UC Davis. CSUB is chasing a third-consecutive winning record in league play this season.
* The Roadrunners will host several local school districts at The Main Soccer Field, Wednesday for the team's Big West Conference opener against Sacramento State. CSUB is 2-0 on Education Day events, beating #7 Air Force 1-0 in 2018 and visiting UNLV by an identical margin in 2019. The 2018 match up with the ranked Falcons was played in front of a crowd of 2,298 fans.
* The tough-minded 'Runners have racked up 25 yellow cards in eight games played, tops in The Big West Conference. CSUB also averages a league-high 3.13 cautions per 90 minutes played - half a card per game higher than second-place CSUN.
* Senior captain Carlos Armendariz scored his team-leading second goal of the season in CSUB's 2-1 loss at #14 Portland. He also scored the game-winning tally earlier this season in a defeat of Grand Canyon in Bakersfield. Armendariz has scored six times in the past two seasons, with three of those goals standing up as game-winners. The San Francisco, Calif., native scored 2021 game winning goals against both of this week's opponents, beating Sacramento State on the road and Cal State Fullerton at last season's Latinx Heritage Celebration at The Main Soccer Field.
* Bakersfield goalkeeper Filippo Dadone ranks fourth in The Big West with his .717 save percentage this season. The Cuneo, Italy native, has made 33 stops, while allowing just 13 goals over eight games played, and also ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 4.13 saves per night. Dadone was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5, after stopping eight of nine opposing shots on goal in wins over Grand Canyon and Gonzaga.
* The 'Runners have advanced to conference tournaments in each of head coach Richie Grant's seven seasons in Bakersfield. Last season, CSUB placed fourth in the Big West - after being picked to finish dead last - and hosted a quarterfinal contest with UC Davis at The Main Soccer Field. This season, CSUB was picked to place 8th in the 10-team league...
* Five different Roadrunners have capped internationally at the youth or senior* level. Damian Alguera (USA & El Salvador), Stephon Marcano (Trinidad & Tobago*), Scott Pengelly (Northern Ireland), all boast international caps, while Carlos Armendariz and Adrian Medina have each represented the United States at the Senior National Level in Futsal. Marcano dressed for a pair of T&T friendlies this past summer, at Bolivia and at Belize.
* Ten Roadrunners prepped for the college game by representing and competing with professional youth academies - including Damian Alguera (Philadelphia Union, Sporting KC, SJ Earthquakes), Filippo Dadone (Juventus Academy), Harry Downing (Plymouth Argyle FC), Kevin Estrada (San Francisco Glens), Bryson Hankins (Seattle Sounders FC), Sucre Herrera (Sacramento Republic FC), Nathan Jimenez (Sacramento Republic FC), Adrian Medina (San Francisco Glens), Scott Pengelly (Fleetwood Town FC) and Andres Perez de Gracia (Crystal Palace FC & Derby County FC).
* Fans of the Roadrunners can follow the team all season long online and on social media. Visit GoRunners.com for complete coverage, live streaming links and more, while following @CSUB_Football on both Twitter and Instagram for behind the scenes content and insight. Season tickets and single game seats for all Bakersfield home games are now available at GoRunners.com/Tickets...
Up Next...
Bakersfield will continue Big West action with a pair of conference home games at The Main Soccer Field next week. The Roadrunners host defending champion UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Oct. 5 (7 p.m.) and UC San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 7 (7 p.m.). Both games will stream live on ESPN+ and tickets are still available at GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.BLUE. Wednesday's match-up with the Gauchos is Roadrunner Scholarship Night at CSUB, featuring the Maris Guisado's Food Truck.
