RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A dramatic second half made for UC Riverside's second consecutive round of late-game heroics in a 2-1 win over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday night at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Carlos Gonzalez was forced well off his line in the eighth minute, but the Bakersfield striker's shot went high. Both sides battled primarily in the midfield through the first half with the Roadrunners holding a 5-0 shot advantage through the first 25 minutes. 
• Elijah Espinoza was issued a second yellow in the 18th minute for a challenge in the final third, putting the Highlanders down a man for the final 72 minutes of the match. UCR still would not give Bakersfield a clear look at goal despite the disadvantage. 
• It took a third of the match to happen, but Brendan Clark created UCR's first offensive threat in the 31st minute with a free kick that found Joel Rivera in the box. Rivera was unable to finish the job with the header as UCR looked for a second consecutive goal from a defender on a free kick from Clark. 
• Cal State Bakersfield created a near miss of their own in the 35th minute with a cross that rolled past everyone in the box. Bakersfield's centering pass a few minutes later found a man, but the back-to-back attempts would not find the net. 
• Lukas Juodkunaitis fired UCR's first shot on goal of the night in the 40th minute, straight into the goalkeeper's breadbasket. Gonzalez made a more taxing save on the other end before the Highlanders won an unsuccessful free kick just prior to halftime. 
• Bakersfield came out of halftime with an early offensive press, but a shorthanded Highlander back line was up to the task in keeping the clean sheet intact. Noah Lopez fed a ball from the midfield into Juodkunaitis in the 69th minute, but the Lithuanian was unable to find the net. 
• Both sides ramped up the offensive in the final minutes of the match following a dormant first 78. Cal State Bakersfield took the 1-0 lead in the 79th minute, but Diogo Baptista bagged his third goal in his last three matches 30 seconds later for the long-range equalizer - the dramatics, however, did not end there. 
• Aleksandar Vukovic made a defining tackle in the final minute of play, then Brendan Clark pushed the ball up to a waiting Wes Hastings in the final third who scored the winning goal with eight seconds on the clock. 

FROM COACH CUPELLO

• "Our team spirit is fantastic. We aren't stealing results or points, we are earning everything. We have a big week ahead of us and we need all of the UCR soccer community to come out to support us."

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

• Gonzalez became the fourth Highlander in the program's Division I history to reach 200 career saves with five on Saturday. 
• The Highlanders now have results in three straight contests, including their last two against two of the top three sides in the Big West - both have come from goals occurring in the final three minutes of play. 
• Hastings' goal added two more goal involvements from substitutions to the Highlanders' tally this year, including the sophomore from Oceanside himself who logged just five minutes on the night. 

UP NEXT

• UC Riverside will finish the regular season on Saturday, October 28 when the Highlanders welcome CSUN to the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+.