KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the third straight WAC tournament contest, CSU Bakersfield headed to penalty kicks and the Roadrunners' experience paid off as they advanced 4-2 over Houston Baptist in the first round of the WAC men's soccer tournament on Thursday night at Durwood Soccer Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
The match couldn't have been much more even during regulation as both teams took four shots in the first half and six in the second half but none of the tries found the back of the net as the teams were scoreless after 90 minutes.
CSUB put the pressure on in the first overtime, outshooting the Huskies, 6-1, in the first extra period. Houston Baptist outshot the Runners, 2-1, in the second overtime but the match was destined for overtime.
After both teams made their first two attempts in the shootout, HBU keeper Chance Pope saved a shot by Christian Duarte but CSUB's Nicolas Clever returned the favor, saving a shot by Sebastian Henke. The Runners' Adam Arana made his shot in the first round and Clever again made a save on the attempt by Darrel Johnson, giving the Runners a chance to win the shootout.
In the fifth round, CSUB's Mario Iniguez lined up and buried the shot into the goal to advance the Runners to a semifinal matchup with top-seed Seattle U at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.