The start of the school year and students back on campus means the soccer season is in full swing. The first men’s soccer game of the season was on Aug. 25 against the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota.
The game had an impressive crowd of 568 California Baptist University fans inside the new state-of-the-art soccer stadium. The Lancers boosted morale by scoring the first three points of the game, two of them being in the first half.
St. Thomas scored its first and only goal in the final nine minutes of the game.
Another outstanding game was the opening game of September against Gonzaga. The final score was 3-1. One of these goals was scored by Grady Kozack, junior midfielder. It was his first goal of his career at CBU.
The first half of Gonzaga vs. CBU was tense.
“The adjustments our guys were able to make were decisive,” said Coe Michaelson, head coach of the mens’ soccer team.
The second half brought the Lancers to victory.
“We had so much control in the second half,” Michaelson said. “It was an excellent performance.”
Sept. 5 marked the record-setting crowd of 1,196 Lancer fans against San Diego. This was the first official sellout at the new CBU soccer stadium.
The first 45 minutes of the game went scoreless. The Toreros continued throughout the rest of the game with no points, despite the endless number of shots they made. Nolan Premack, junior goalkeeper, denied a majority of the shots against CBU.
At the 50-minute mark, CBU made its first goal, quickly following another at the 60-minute mark. This ended the game with a final score of 2-1.
The Lancer’s next home game is Sept. 22 against University of California, Riverside.
