RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside (0-13-2, 0-6-1 Big West) dropped a 3-0 decision to Cal State Bakersfield (7-7-2, 4-3-1 Big West) on Sunday night at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
UCR came out with a defensive mindset and confined Bakersfield to the lower two thirds of the pitch after clearing a seventh-minute corner off the line. The Highlanders did not concede a shot until the 27th minute.
On the ball, UCR continued pestering Bakersfield for opportunities. A counterattack in the ninth minute turned into a direct feed to Mia DiLeo, whose cross had a little too much zing on it. The ensuing chance on the corner was swatted away.
Sarah Mahfoud, who consistently frustrated the Roadrunners in the defensive midfield, took the ball off an attacker in the 13th minute and fed it to a speedy DiLeo.
Ally Yoshimura was advantaged by a Bakersfield miscue in the 16th, and UCR took possession down the right wing and fed a ball into the 18. The ball missed its intended target, but won a throw for a continually pressing home side.
Lauren Nguyen found open space and a ball in the 18th after the dust had cleared from a Bakersfield corner. Nguyen hightailed it down the gut before losing possession upon crossing into the Roadrunners' 18.
Mahfoud was once again defensively active outside the 18 in the 25th minute and helped the Highlanders clear before Bakersfield broke the deadlock in the 29th. Mahfoud tried her hand at the other side of the ball in the 30th and wove through Roadrunner defenders in the attacking half before being dispossessed. Bakersfield doubled its lead just before halftime.
UCR adopted another defensive mindset off the whistle, this time out of force against Bakersfield's continued press on the ball.
Mahfoud lifted one towards goal in the 65th minute to start a flurry of Highlander shots; five of their six, in fact, came after the break. DiLeo and Spenser Gonzales peppered Bakersfield with a shot each in the 69th minute before Gonzales followed with a strike in the 77th from beyond the 18.
UC Riverside begins its final road trip of the season next Thursday, October 23 with a 7:00 pm kickoff at Cal Poly on ESPN+.
