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HOUSTON – HBU held a one-goal lead for 66 minutes before adding a second goal in the 80
th minute en route to a 2-1 Western Athletic Conference win over CSU Bakersfield on Thursday evening at Sorrels Field.
The Huskies (5-5-0, 2-3-0 WAC) took an early lead in the 14
th minute after
Dominick Faletto and
Devon Grant combined to pick up assists on a goal from freshman
Abdullah Mirza. Faletto found Grant who sent a pass across to the right edge of the 18 yard box where Mirza fired off the left post and into the back of the net for a 1-0 HBU lead.
The first half saw the Huskies attempt 10 shots with three on goal while CSU Bakersfield (5-7-0, 3-2-0 WAC) managed just four shots with none on goal.
The Roadrunners came out in the second half with Sebastian Mentel putting a pair of shots on goal from the left side of the 18 within a four minute span but
Harrison Veith made the saves to keep CSUB off the board. HBU's Marc-Anthone put an attempt on goal at the 77:31 mark but was denied by CSUB's Detre Bell. The Husky senior wasn't denied just over two minutes later when
Dominick Faletto found him with a pass at the top of the 18 yard box where he fired past Bell to put HBU ahead 2-0 with just over 10 minutes to go.
In the 82
nd minute, Niklas Koerber sent a quick pass to Jamie Carey-Morrell who quickly sent a shot in from 30 yards out, placing it right into the top left corner past the outstretched hands of Veith. Mirza had another good look in the 87
th minute, missing wide right before the Roadrunners had a pair of chances in the final minutes, including another shot from distance by Carey-Morrell.
Mirza's goal was his second of the season while it was the first for Marc-Anthone. Faletto's assists give him five on the year, raising his team-leading points total to nine (2g, 5a). Veith is now 4-1-0 in net for HBU, making five saves in the win.
Bell took the loss in goal for the Roadrunners, making four saves and falling to 5-7-0. Carey-Morrell led CSUB with four shots, two on goal, and now has five goals for the season.
"It's very important to get conference wins at home," said HBU head coach
Ryan Pratt. "Bakersfield is a very good team. They presented us with problems to solve and I think we solved them for good portions of the game where I thought we were very good. I thought we defended really well and at the end of the day, our defense helped us get the win tonight."
The Huskies will remain at home to host San Jose State in another WAC contest this Sunday, Oct. 15, at 1:00 p.m. at Sorrels Field.
