Box Score Box Score
Two Cal State San Marcos goals in the first six minutes of Tuesday's match set the tone, as CSUSM held on at home to defeat San Diego Christian 4-2.
CSUSM improves to 6-4-1 on the season. San Diego Christian drops to 2-4-1.
In what was a grueling, physical, and oftentimes heated match, the Cougars put together some prolonged stretches of outstanding soccer, including the two goal blitz right off the bat.
Both goals were created by freshman midfielder Alex Brunsell, who had numerous nifty touches throughout the contest but was magic in those first few minutes. The first goal, just a minute and nineteen seconds in, came off a corner kick that was earned by Sullivan Tobin's hustle on a ball in the corner. Brunsell took the corner and picked out Jake Kaiser in the box, delivering a perfect ball that Kaiser headed in with precision and pace into the top of the net.
The Cougars would strike again at the 5:55 mark, with Brunsell playing a terrific through ball that Eric Lopez expertly redirected past the keeper to put the home team up 2-0.
San Diego Christian would stifle the momentum with an early goal against the run of play in the 11th minute, catching the Cougars with a long throw-in that Jordan Abad drove into across the net and into the corner.
The first half would end with a lot of physical, ugly play from both sides, but the Cougars would get back on their game for the second half, playing one of their best halves of the season.
In the 62nd minute, Lopez struck for the second time, giving the home team back its two-goal cushion. A long build-up led to Sterling Petersen playing a nice ball into the box that found Lopez alone at the penalty spot, and Lopez calmly finished the chance to make it 3-1.
CSUSM would add another late, as Ryan VanDenberg made a bounding run through the Hawks' defense in the match's closing minutes, eluding a pair of defenders to get one-on-one with the keeper and driving his shot into the back of the net. A foul in the box on CSUSM in the 90th minute allowed the visitors to add one more with a penalty, making the final 4-2.
Now two games over .500, the Cougar men's soccer team appears to be playing its best soccer at the right time, and will look to continue that at this Saturday's homecoming match against Bethesda, starting at 2:30 PM.
