By Esteban Ramirez
Staff Writer
Behind an offensive barrage in the second half, California State University, Bakersfield men’s soccer team cruised past Sacramento State 5-0 on Sept. 28 at the main soccer field.
The ‘Runners (6-2-1) had a 1-0 lead on the Hornets (2-5-2) at halftime thanks to a penalty kick by senior midfielder Joe Masumiya, and exploded in the second half with four more goals.
“I thought we could’ve gone up by two, and that’s what we talked about at halftime trying to be more opportunistic with the chances we had,” said CSUB head coach Richie Grant. “Tyler [Morris] did well to get the penalty, but I thought we had a number of good chances before. We definitely finished better, but we talked about being more aggressive, really taking the game to them a little bit more and getting to the final third a bit quicker.”
The scoring output began at the 59th minute into the game by junior forward Simon Doherty, who scored off a rebound from freshman forward Julian Zamora. Then in the 65th minute Zamora got in the action with a goal of his own which was set up by a pass from senior midfielder Lucas Dall’Orso.
At the 71st minute, junior midfielder Christian Duarte scored a goal with an assist from Doherty, and in the final minute of play sophomore midfielder Armando Flores scored with a pass from freshman midfielder Edan Mendoza.
“We struggled in the first half to score a couple goals, but we came out strong in the second half,” said Doherty. “We got that second goal, and from there we just dominated the game. We were kind of keeping the ball too long and going backwards, but in the second half we looked to go forward more, made the passes easier and we scored the goals.”
Zamora added that it was crucial that they got the lead early on.
“It was really important because coach wanted us to get the first goal, so we can secure the game and we did,” he said.
This was the 14th matchup between these two teams and was the biggest margin of victory in any game. Additionally, in the last five games the ‘Runners have outscored the Hornets 19-0.
While it took CSUB’s offense until the second half to come alive, the defense played strong throughout. The ‘Runners defense only allowed two shots on goal.
“They did a great job, and we used two keepers,” said Grant. “They had the big man upfront (senior forward Chimdum Mez), and I thought Alex [Florez] coped with him very well and Danny [Corral] screened in front.”
Florez is a senior defender and Corral is a sophomore defender.
Both Zamora and Doherty led the way for the ‘Runners offense, which had 11 shots on goals with one goal and one assist each. Sophomore goalkeepers Nicolas Clever and Hector Valdez combined to earn a clean sheet.
“We played well,” said Zamora. “In the first half we had a couple chances, but in the second half we finished most of the [chances] we had. We played really well defensively, so we played as a team. I think I played well, but I thought I could’ve had more. I had one goal and one assist, so I’m happy with it.”
The ‘Runners will begin Western Athletic Conference play by hosting former CSUB coach Simon Tobin and San Jose State University on Oct. 4.