Men’s soccer struggles against Cal State Monterey Bay
The Humboldt State men’s soccer team lost to Cal State Monterey Bay on Sunday, dropping the match 1-2. Despite the loss, the Jacks outshot Monterey 16-6 and held a majority of the possession throughout the second half. Humboldt is now 2-5 in conference play, which puts them at No. 11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings.
The first half snuck away from the Jacks as CSUMB scored a goal on junior goalkeeper Tab Heinz just under seven minutes into the match.
Humboldt was unable to respond as Monterey consistently pressured with a high defensive line and controlled offensive possession. Despite being able to make offensive pushes in the first 25 minutes, the Jacks were unable to establish themselves in the attacking area for a significant amount of time. It wasn’t long before Monterey scored again, keeping their lead with a new score of 2-0.
On the offensive side, Isaiah Dairo provided the spark needed to the Jacks on the board. Throughout the match Dairo constantly drove the play along the right wing as well as in Monterey’s goal box.
Senior defender Gus Baxter stepped up to take the kick for the Jacks and didn’t hesitate, striking it past CSUMB’s goalkeeper Daniel Lomeli to score his fifth goal of the season. With the score now 2-1, the Jacks’ offense seemed reinvigorated and pushed Monterey hard until the end of the half.
In the second half, Humboldt’s offense outshot CSUMB 13-2 and took four corner kicks but didn’t have any luck finding the back of the net. Monterey managed the clock very well, playing a possession focused game and continuing to challenge the Jacks.
The pacing of the half was slow as both teams committed nine fouls, but neither of them were able to capitalize on the reoccurring opportunity. This was a trend throughout the match as Monterey committed 22 fouls in total and Humboldt committed 12.
Humboldt State defender Martin Calderon was confident in the defensive side of the Jacks’ game even after the loss.
“The last few games have been pretty solid on the back,” Calderon said. “I think it’s just been the little mistakes that have cost us the games. Last game we gave up two headers, this game it was just a deflection that we kind of messed up and the other teams don’t let those goals go.”
Head Coach Fred Jungemann was disappointed to not come out of the match with a win but saw positives from the Jacks’ offensive opportunities that they were able to generate.
“I think even before the penalty kick our guys kind of regrouped and managed the game really well,” Jungemann said. “The last 75 minutes of the game we dominated, played the game we wanted to play. We created chances, just couldn’t hit the back of the net.”
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