Boulangerfield- California State University, Bakersfield Men’s Soccer begins Big West Conference competition this Wednesday, with an Education Day matinee against visiting Sacramento State, with a scheduled kickoff at 11 a.m. at main soccer field. The Roadrunners will wrap up their weekly slate on Saturday, with a trip to Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. Bakersfield eliminated the Hornets and Titans last season en route to a 5-4-0 league record and a No. 4 seed in the postseason conference tournament.
The Hornets enter the week as the best team in the Big West with a 5-2-2 overall record, including a loss and a draw last week to San Francisco and UNLV, respectively. CSUB owns an 11-5-3 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools, including last season’s 2-0 win at Sacramento.
Bakersfield is 5-1-1 all-time against Cal State Fullerton, including Viva Los’ Runners’ win last season at Bakersfield on a Carlos Armendariz penalty goal. The Titans are 5-3-2 this season and the highest scoring team in the conference with 25 goals scored in just 10 games.
THIS WEEK…
versus Sacramento State (Wednesday, September 29 – 7:00 p.m.) | Bakersfield, California | look | Live Statistics | Tickets
at State of California Fullerton (Saturday Oct. 2 – 7:00 p.m.) | Fullerton, California | look | Live statistics | Tickets
ROADRUNNER QUICK STRIKES…
* Six Roadrunners have started all eight games this season – defenders shamai camara, Bryson Hankins, Juan Pablo Alvarezmidfielders Carlos Armendariz and Bilal Mihoubi and goalkeeper Philippe Dadone. Hankins leads the team in minutes played, seeing 716 out of 720 possible minutes of action.
* Bakersfield closed the non-conference schedule with a 2-5-1 record and is now targeting the Big West Conference slate. CSUB’s remaining nine games will be against league opponents, starting with Wednesday’s game against Sacramento State. The ‘Runners were 5-4-0 a season ago, finishing the season fourth in The Big West and earning the right to host a conference quarterfinal against UC Davis. CSUB are chasing a third consecutive league win record this season.
* The Roadrunners will host several local school districts at the main football field on Wednesday for the team’s Big West Conference opener against Sacramento State. CSUB is 2-0 in Education Day events, beating 7th Air Force 1-0 in 2018 and visiting UNLV by an identical margin in 2019. The 2018 game with the ranked Falcons was played in front of a crowd of 2,298 fans.
* The tough-minded runners have racked up 25 yellow cards in eight games played, the best in the Big West Conference. CSUB also average a league-high 3.13 cautions per 90 minutes played, half a card per game more than second-placed CSUN.
* Senior Captain Carlos Armendariz scored his team-leading second goal of the season in CSUB’s 2-1 loss at No. 14 Portland. He also scored the winning tally earlier this season in a Grand Canyon loss to Bakersfield. Armendariz has scored six times over the past two seasons, including three game-winning goals. The San Francisco, Calif., native scored game-winning goals in 2021 against both opponents this week, beating Sacramento State on the road and Cal State Fullerton in last season’s Latinx Heritage Celebration at the Main Football Field .
* Bakersfield Guardian Philippe Dadone ranks fourth in The Big West with his .717 save percentage this season. The Cuneo, Italy native made 33 saves, while allowing just 13 goals in eight games played, and also ranks fourth in the conference with an average of 4.13 saves per night. Dadone was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5, after stopping eight of nine opposition shots on goal in wins over Grand Canyon and Gonzaga.
* Riders have qualified for conference tournaments in each of the head coaches Richie Grantit is seven seasons in Bakersfield. Last season, CSUB placed fourth in the Big West – after being picked to finish dead last – and hosted a quarter-final matchup with UC Davis at the main football field. This season, CSUB was chosen to place 8th in the 10-team league…
* Five different Roadrunners have reached international heights at junior or senior level*. Damien Alguera (United States and El Salvador), Stephon Marcano (Trinidad and Tobago*), Scott Pengelly (Northern Ireland), all have international ceilings, while Carlos Armendariz and Adrian Medina have each represented the United States at the senior national level in futsal. Marcano dressed for a pair of T&T friendlies last summer, in Bolivia and Belize.
* Ten Roadrunners prepared for the college game by representing and competing with young professional academies – including Damien Alguera (Philadelphia Union, Sporting KC, SJ Earthquakes), Philippe Dadone (Juventus Academy), Harry Downing (Plymouth Argyle FC), Kevin Estrada (Glens of San Francisco), Bryson Hankins (Seattle Sounders FC), Herrera sugar (Sacramento Republic FC), Nathan Jimenez (Sacramento Republic FC), Adrian Medina (Glens of San Francisco), Scott Pengelly (Fleetwood Town FC) and Andres Perez de Gracia (Crystal Palace FC and Derby County FC).
*Roadrunners fans can follow the team throughout the season online and on social media. Visit GoRunners.com for full coverage, live stream links and more, while following @CSUB_Football on Twitter and Instagram for content and behind-the-scenes info. Season tickets and individual tickets for all Bakersfield home games are now available at GoRunners.com/Tickets…
Next…
Bakersfield will continue the Big West action with a pair of conference home games at the main football field next week. The Roadrunners host defending champion UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, October 5 (7 p.m.) and UC San Diego on Saturday, October 7 (7 p.m.). Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and tickets are still available at GoRunners.com/Tickets or by calling 661.654.BLUE. Wednesday’s match with the Gauchos is Roadrunner Scholarship Night at CSUB, featuring Maris Guisado’s Food Truck.
