STOCKTON, Calif. – Despite a strong push in the second half, the Pacific men's soccer program ultimately came up short in a spirited match to CSU Bakersfield, 2-1, on Wednesday at Knoles Field.
The Tigers (2-3-2) recorded a season-high 16 shot attempts, including freshman
Carlos Maldonado's first career goal in the late stages, but the Roadrunners (3-2-2) held on for the result.
"It's tough to digest," head coach
Adam Reeves said. "I thought the second half was good, but that intensity should be for 90 minutes and not 35 minutes. We had chances, but we ultimately did not put it away enough. We got punished for our mistakes in the first half. We need to be better in those moments."
Maldonado provided a spark off the bench, scoring his first goal as a Tiger on two shot attempts.
Eight different Tigers recorded at least a shot attempt, featuring a game-high five shot attempts from freshman
Ezekiel Padilla. Two of his five shots were on target, which led Pacific.
Senior
Joshua Moya made his eighth start of the season defending the net, totaling four saves off six shots on goal by the visitors.
Six Tigers logged the full 90 minutes with Moya, graduate student
Javier Chavez, junior
Luca Baltzer, junior
Jose Maria Barrera, junior
Matteo Carbone and junior
Jacob Heisner competing the entire match.
The Roadrunners sprinted out of the gates quickly to a 2-0 lead. CSU Bakersfield converted on a penalty kick in the fourth minute and scrambled for another goal in the 34th minute to take a two-goal edge into halftime.
The Tigers regrouped and attacked furiously, outshooting their opponent 12-3 in attempts during the second half. Pacific also had the advantage in corner kicks with a 10-3 margin.
In the 78th minute, the Tigers found a lifeline as sophomore
Nicholas Engels passed the ball to
Carlos Maldonado, who rifled home a goal to bring the home team within one.
Pacific continued to press, taking a variety of shots from around the box. A throw-in from the corner in the final moments nearly set up the Tigers for a tying opportunity, but the Roadrunners prevented the chance and resulted in a 2-1 final score.
The Tigers look ahead to West Coast Conference play, opening up their conference slate on the road on Sunday at 1 p.m. at San Francisco.
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