BOX SCORE
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - (Oct. 2) Less than 48 hours after taking down Utah Valley in both teams’ Western Athletic Conference opener, Seattle University men’s soccer turned in another shutout performance, this time on the road at CSU Bakersfield.
Alex Roldan and Julio Rubio scored second-half goals in the Sunday afternoon match in Bakersfield, propelling SU to a 2-0 victory and a 2-0-0 start to WAC play. Now also 6-4-0 overall, the Redhawks have taken care of big wins against the preseason second and fourth place teams in the league.
"This was a terrific win today at Bakersfield," said SU Head Coach Pete Fewing. "It was not easy to break (the 'Runners) down, but we were able to score two terric goals in the second half."
A scoreless first half saw Seattle U garner a 7-3 shot advantage, forcing a pair of saves by CSUB goalkeeper Nicolas Clever.
After the Redhawks had a series of shots blocked by the Roadrunner defense in the 55th minute, the breakthrough would finally come moments later on Roldan’s team-leading fourth goal of the year. Jeff Rose was the setup man, beating the CSUB backline, then sending a through ball up to Roldan who buried a shot past Clever.
With just over 10 minutes to play, Rubio gave SU an insurance score off a good combination of passes from Sergio Rivas and Roldan.
The Roadrunners had three shot attempts down the stretch, but to no avail as one was blocked, one sailed wide and the third was saved by SU goalkeeper Jordan Hadden.
The redshirt senior finished with three saves in his second straight start and second straight clean sheet performance.
"To get the win (on Friday) against one of the toughest teams in the conference and then come here and get this one as well is a great way to start the WAC," Fewing said. "We've also gotten great minutes from fresh legs off the bench, which will be key in keeping this momentum building into next week."
Seattle U heads back out on the road next week, traveling for a WAC match at San Jose State on Thursday, Oct. 6. The team then returns home Saturday, Oct. 8 to host Houston Baptist at Championship Field.