It wasn't pretty, but Cougar men's soccer evened their record on Saturday, thanks to a tight 1-0 home win over Kansas Wesleyan.

CSUSM is now 3-3 on the season.

Seven yellow cards were shown in what was an intensely physical match. A huge Saturday crowd came out to cheer on the Cougars during the contest.

A scoreless first half was highlighted by a couple near-misses from the Cougars. In the 22nd minute, what looked to be a goal for Greg Reese was nullified by an offsides call. Later in the half, Jose Rivas hit a beautiful cross, finding the foot of Greg Reese, who banged a shot off the crossbar.

“When you miss chances early on,” noted Coach Ron Pulvers, “you give the other team confidence.”

Indeed, Kansas Wesleyan played CSUSM more closely in the second half. But the back line held strong, and Cougar keeper Tashi Nakanishi was very solid in his decision-making.

The Cougars finally broke through in the 68th minute. A seemingly harmless throw-in was earned deep on KWU's side of the field. Troy Skomra, throw-in specialist, launched a very dangerous ball into the box. The keeper couldn't get to it, and co-captain Greg Reese was there to put a little touch on it, and somehow flick it into the corner of the net.

For the second straight game, CSUSM was able to hold onto a one-goal lead despite a late rush by their opponent. The Cougars will look to get above .500 for the first time this year when they host Point Loma on Wednesday.