SAN BERNARDINO –
Tony Negrete makes his shots count for the Cal State San Bernardino men's soccer team.
Negrete, a junior midfielder transfer from Cerritos College, scored both goals Friday as the Yotes snapped a five-match winless streak with a 2-0 shutout of visiting Cal State San Marcos in a CCAA conference match at Premier Field.
It was vintage Negrete form in 2023. He took three shots on goal Friday and two of them found the net. This season he has been credited with seven shots on goal and has a team-leading five goals to show for it.
The victory improved the Yotes overall record to 6-5-4 and 3-4-2 in the CCAA. Cal State San Marcos, in fourth place in the CCAA entering the match, is now 7-6-3 overall and 4-3-2 in conference play.
CSUSB was tied for seventh place with Cal State East Bay entering the match and with three matches left in the regular season need to be a top six team in the CCAA in order to qualify for the conference tournament that begins Nov. 5.
It was the second shutout of the season for the Yotes, who blanked Sonoma State in their conference opener on Sept. 29, 1-0.
Mark Gamez was the goalkeeper that day. On Friday it was senior John Samano recording the shutout with two saves.
The Yotes were the more aggressive team from the outset, outshooting the Cougars 7-2 in the scoreless first half. It was the same story in the second half , with seven scoring tries to just four for the Cougars.
Nicklaus Sullivan set the tone for the Yotes early with a shot just 9:45 into the match that was saved by Cougars keeper Jesus Mentado. Sullivan tried four shots, two of them on goal in the match but came up empty.
In the 25
th minute of the first half, Samano stopped a scoring try by San Marcos' Justin Carreon.
Just 45 seconds into the second half another Sullivan shot required Mentado to make a save to keep the match scoreless. However, in the 60
th minute, Negrete was able to direct the ball high in the left corner of the Cougars net for a 1-0 lead.
Two more tries by Sullivan and a shot by
Victor Chavez both missed left of the goal. In the 81
st minute Negrete's next try was saved by Mentado.
With just a couple minutes left in the match, Negrete gave the Yotes some insurance with shot into the lower left corner of the net to make it 2-0.
Martin Garcia was credited with the assist. The clincher came after a series of throw-ins by the Yotes as they moved down the field against the Cougars defense.
CSUSB now leads the all-time series between the two teams 9-3.
UP NEXT: The Yotes will host Cal State East Bay at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Premier Field. The Pioneers played Cal Poly Pomona, the 11
th-ranked team in Division II on Friday night at the Broncos field and were tied with CSUSB for seventh place heading into this weekend's game with a record of 2-4-2 in CCAA play and 7-5-3 overall.
