MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's soccer team made history on Friday afternoon, winning their first ever California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship with a 6-0 win over Benedictine University Mesa.
With the victory, the Bobcats (8-0) have earned their fourth straight berth to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round which is scheduled to begin on April 22.
Juan Flores and Luis Villegas were the hero's for the Bobcats in the top offensive performance the conference has ever seen in a championship match.
Flores, Cal Pac Player of the Year, scored the game-winning goal in the 36th minute. Andres Lua earned the assist on the score. The All-Cal Pac First Team duo strung together a pair of passes before Flores got ahead of the defense and rocketed the ground ball shot with his left.
Luis Villegas followed with the next three goals and the freshman became the first ever Bobcat with a hat-trick in a postseason game. Furthermore, Villegas is just the fourth UC Merced freshman to record a hat-trick all-time. Villegas' scores all came within the first 20 minutes of the second half.
Anthoni Martin scored the Bobcats fifth goal in the 67th minute, while Hugo Soto finalized the scoring with a tally in the 82nd. Kevin Capetillo assisted on each of the final two goals.
Marco Sobrevilla played the bulk of the minutes (71) between the posts and had to make his most impressive save of the season midway through the first half. It was one of two saves he had to make in the championship match and by doing so the Bobcats extended their already program-best shutout streak to eight straight matches.
Goalkeepers Brycen Miller and Alberto Gutierrez saw time between the posts late in the match. 22 Bobcats in total earned championship minutes.
The Bobcats outshot BenU Mesa 24-8, 16-2 on goal. The Bobcats also won the corner kick tally 6-2. Four of the six corner kicks occurred in the first half, one of which the Bobcats had initially scored on but it was called back due to a foul.
Friday afternoon marked the Bobcats fourth championship game in program history, while it was the first for BenU Mesa.
UC Merced is now 4-0 all-time against the Redhawks.
Up next, the Bobcats will await Selection Monday to find out who they will play in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round. The reveal will be announced at 10:00am here.
