SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The CSUSB men's soccer team defeated Point Loma in their season opener on Thursday afternoon by a score of 4-2. The Yotes have become accustomed to a strong start in the past few seasons, having not lost on opening day since 2018.

After claiming a 1-0 victory over the Sea Lions to open the 2022 season, the Yotes repeated that feat with a 4-2 win to open 2023. In fact, the Yotes have not lost to Point Loma since 2007, going 3-0 since.
 
"It was a great day to see the boys put all of their efforts together in this performance," said head coach Josh Hill. "The result felt like a byproduct of the teams commitment to one another. We leaned on a lot of different individuals in this match and the depth of our squad was something that really helped us get through a tough 90 minutes."

PLNU scored the first goal of the game, finding the back of the net in the 20^th minute. Just two minutes later, Angel Rico tied the game back up at 1-1 with an assist by Nicklaus Sullivan. Then in the 38^th minute, the Yotes took their first lead of the season on a goal by Tony Negrete, his first while wearing a CSUSB uniform. At half, the Yotes led 2-1.
 
The second half was no different than the first, as CSUSB outscored PLNU 2-1 once again to put the final score at 4-2. The Yotes' reigning leading scorer, Nicklaus Sullivan, scored his first goal of the season in the 63^rd minute to put CSUSB ahead 3-1.
 
After Point Loma narrowed the lead to one in the 64^th minute, the Yotes delivered the final blow with Cristian Moran's first career goal in the 77^th minute. Moran's goal was assisted by Sullivan, giving him an impressive two assists and one goal in the game.

"We will need different guys to step up each week to see ongoing success this fall," added Hill. "The game is about big moments and yesterday we had a lot of them. We are lucky that we have some strong leaders within this team and we hope to see more big moments from everyone as the 2023 season progresses."


Up Next
The Yotes will travel to Biola this Saturday, September 2nd, for a 7:00 PM game at Al Barbour Field. The Eagles are currently 0-0-1 on the season after tying with #22 Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday.
 
To view the full CSUSB men's soccer schedule, click HERE.
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