Crunch time for Roadrunners soccer
BY JEFF EVANS Californian staff writer jevans@bakersfield.com
Cal State Bakersfield's men's soccer season is in a do-or-die situation this weekend.
Coach Simon Tobin acknowledged this week that the Roadrunners will likely need to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament that began Thursday at the University of New Mexico to earn the MPSF's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Tobin said CSUB's power rating and overall record entering the tourney (9-4-5) probably isn't good enough to earn an at-large NCAA berth. CSUB was 12-4-5 last season.
"San Jose State is the reason we may not get a wild card bid this year," Tobin said, referring to two MPSF regular-season losses to the Spartans. "I felt we were the better team both times. We outshot them both times. And they beat us one-out-of-two last year, so maybe they're a bogey for us."
The Roadrunners have one advantage in the MPSF Tournament: a first-round bye. Today at 5 p.m. Mountain Time, the Roadrunners face Air Force, which defeated UNLV in a quarterfinal Thursday.
In the other semifinal today, Denver will face host New Mexico. Denver beat San Jose State 2-1 in overtime Thursday.
New Mexico is ranked No. 9 in the country with six straight shutout victories.
The MPSF Tournament title match is Sunday, with that winner qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Tobin arrived in Albuquerque, N.M., on Wednesday, one day before the rest of the squad, to watch both of the Thursday matches.
"We just played Air Force a week ago and set a record for the most shots we've ever had, 31," Tobin said of the match that ended 1-1. "We beat Denver 2-0 a couple of weeks ago."
CSUB will be missing junior defender Scott Luedtke, who was ejected from the Roadrunners' regular-season finale after receiving a red card and must sit out today's match.
"That's a big loss because he's been a very good player for us," Tobin said.
Gyasi Zardes, who won the MPSF's MVP award for the second straight season, ranks among the national leaders with 14 goals and 37 points. He and Lucas Dall'Orso share the team lead with nine assists.
Facebook
Twitter
Mobile
RSS
Most CommentedMost Popular
Two cellphones confiscated last week from witnesses to the in-custody death of David Sal Silva were returned Wednesday to the attorney representing the witnesses.
About two dozen protesters stood in front of Kern County Superior Court next to the Liberty Bell Thursday morning to make a statement about police brutality.
The death of a man in custody following a prolonged struggle with Kern County Sheriff's deputies and CHP officers and the subsequent fracas over confiscated witness cellphones have gained international attention and raised concerns here that the incidents could tarnish the county's emerging...
Sheriff’s investigators served a search warrant on Kern Medical Center and the Mary K. Shell Mental Health Center seeking medical records to find possible reasons for David Sal Silva’s behavior prior to and during his encounter with law enforcement, The Californian learned Friday.
Blood stains are still visible on the sidewalk at the corner of Flower Street and Palm Drive, where a Bakersfield man struggled with as many as nine officers and later died this week.
Responding to what he called a case that “has consumed the media and our community,” Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said Tuesday he has asked the FBI to conduct a “parallel” investigation into the death of Bakersfield father of four David Sal Silva, who died May 8 after he was beaten by deputies.
A war of words erupted Friday over video footage taken of David Sal Silva’s deadly encounter with law enforcement officers.
Bakersfield College will vacate its 2012 state football championship and forfeit its regular-season wins from the 2011 and 2012 seasons because of California Community College Athletic Association rules violations.