LOS ANGELES – Nathan Rodrigues scored his first collegiate goal and the LMU men's soccer team defeated California Baptist 1-0 on Friday night at Sullivan Field.  

 

The Lions dominated possession and could have scored on multiple occasions, but the Lancer goalkeeper made numerous impressive saves to keep the match tight.  

 

The Lions were almost on the board in the third minute when Ismail Nieves found some space up the right side and cut onto his left foot. He fired a curling shot that looked an easy save but took a nick off a defender that made the save tough. 

 

Rodrigues got his goal with some great positional awareness. Alejandro Fuentesal-Atalaya launched a shot that won the Lions a corner kick. Tyler Trusner drove a corner to the back post on the ensuing corner and Kayvon Monfared outjumped the defense to win the header. The ball fell kindly to Rodrigues who poked it into the back corner to give the Lions a goal lead with five minutes left in the first half.  

 

Jack Englebert almost doubled the lead right after the break. 

 

He received a pass near the top of the box and fired a low driven shot that force the goalkeeper to make a sprawling save near the post. It was the first of a pair of venomous shots that forced intense saves from Englebert.  

 

Englebert's second shot forced a diving save that found the foot of Anthony Wilson. Wilson lined up a strong effort that the goalkeeper smothered away as well.  

 

The Lions defense did their job and kept Massimo Oedekoven Pomponi clean as he faced only three saves, two of which were very straightforward. It was Pomponi's second clean sheet of the season and second victory.  

 

LMU plays a pair of matches in the coming week. They travel to Phoenix, Ariz. to face off with Grand Canyon on Monday at 7:00 p.m. (PT) before returning home to open West Coast Conference play against Gonzaga on Saturday night at Sullivan Field. Both matches will be live streamed on ESPN+ and tickets are available at LMULions.com.