Sacramento State men’s soccer (1-0) couldn’t take advantage of early chances on net against Cal State Bakersfield (1-1-0) as they lost 3-0 on Sept. 6 at Hornet Field.

The speedy senior forward Isaac Ikyurav put pressure on the Roadrunner backline placing a shot on goal within the first five minutes of the first half. Ikyurav thought he should have put at least one of the shots in the net.

“I just couldn’t capitalize on the chances I had today but it happens sometimes,” Ikyurav said.

Ikyurav finished with six total shots and three shots on goal, two of those goals on net were in the second half.

Men’s soccer head coach Michael Linenberger said the team missed great first half opportunities that could have changed the whole complexion of the game.

“We are a better team than what we showed today,” Linenberger said.  “ The team showed no energy out there on the field.”

CSU Bakersfield got out to a fast start when it scored the first of three goals against the Hornets senior goalkeeper Cesar Castillo.

The goal was scored in the 26th minute by Roadrunner redshirt junior midfielder Joe Masumiya  when he scored from the top of the box into the top right corner of the net.

Castillo said some of the younger players on the backline were not used to being vocal for our team.

“Communicating with each other on the backline is a huge key in order to play well and we didn’t communicate well today,” Castillo said.

At the end of the first half, CSU Bakersfield out shot the Hornet offense 8-7, three of those eight shots were on goal. The Roadrunners put the pressure on the lackadaisical Sac State defense forcing six corner-kicks in the first half.

It took only five minutes into the second half when CSUB punched in their second goal of the game in the 50th minute. This time it came from freshman forward Giovanni Godoy on an assist from another freshman midfielder Mario Ortiz.

Castillo said that today’s game was a learning experience not only for the young team but for himself as well.

“It was disappointing for us to loss in general, the goals they did get past me were good goals,” Castillo said. “We just need to work on a couple of things defensively to better our backline.”

Sac State will look to rebound after today’s game as it will start the Sunday double header at 1 p.m. against Seattle University.

You can reach Clifton Jones at @JonesSHsports