MSOC: CBU Shuts Out Concordia 2-0

Two minutes just might be the magical time frame for California Baptist University. For the second game in a row, the Lancers scored two goals in a span of two minutes, but this time, they didn't have to come from behind. Daniel Westholm netted back-to-back goals to lift the Lancers 2-0 over Concordia of Irvine, putting CBU at 3-4-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the PacWest. The Eagles drop to 2-5-0 on the year, 2-1 in conference. "I thought we played really well for moments of the game," said head coach Gregg Schroeder. "It's always hard when you go up 2-0 early to maintain that sense of fire and urgency. I felt like we kind of let off the gas a little bit, but Danny Westholm has been really good at tucking away goals. He's not typically a forward but he's incredibly smart and can play anywhere you want him to." "For the first couple games, I felt a little awkward," said Westholm about his transition from center midfield to attacking forward. "Now I don't mind playing up top at all. It's a different mentality, but it's fun." CBU controlled the tempo of the game from the get-go, but couldn't get a good look at the frame until Thomas Carter headed a ball just high, bouncing off the crossbar in the 20th minute. "I thought we knocked the ball around really well in the first half," said Westholm. "We had a couple good chances." Just three minutes later, Westholm struck first. Julian Ekeze made a perfect turn through pressure at the midfield to keep possession of the ball and slotted through the ball into the path of a sprinting Westholm. The sophomore took a touch and beat the goalkeeper low and inside to make it 1-0. Two minutes later, it was déjà vu as Westholm capitalized once more, this time on an assist from Junior Guerra. After the Eagles couldn't get the ball out of their defensive third, Guerra recovered the ball from a tackle and found Westholm open on the right once more. Just like he did on the first goal, Westholm tucked it low and away to put his team up 2-0 before halftime. "Both goals were pretty similar," said Westholm. "Julian made a great turn on the first one and I got in running behind the back line, saw the near post was open and sent it in. The second one, was kind of the same thing. I saw the front post open and I took advantage of it." While neither team would score again, they both had moments of close calls, especially the Lancers. Ekeze teamed up with Dario Garcia for a wall pass to put Ekeze open at the top of the box, but just missed wide of the net in the 78th minute. "I think this was one of our better attacking performances in the sense of finding the right balls and then putting the finishing touches on them," said Schroeder. Ekeze got another look in the 82nd minute, but an Eagle defender blocked the shot. Gio Rodriguez kept it in play and sent a shot back on goal, forcing the CUI goalkeeper Jordan Brinkley to make a crucial save. Daniel Moss gave CBU its last chance of the evening just seconds before the final whistle blew, once again forcing Brinkley to make the save to keep it 2-0 in favor of the Lancers. In his first start of the season, Logan Deeney picked up the shutout, only needing to make one save. "[Grabbing a shutout] helps our mentality," said Schroeder. "Moving forward, I'm hoping to build on the fact that we can keep people out of our net. The shutout is a good result for us. We now have two wins in a row, it wasn't a fluke win if you can get a couple in a row. I want to keep building on that momentum."