SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's soccer team saw its historic season come to a close on Thursday afternoon, falling 2-0 to top-ranked Central Methodist University in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
The Bobcats finish their season 8-1 overall. On top of winning the program's first ever California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship, the season was highlighted by eight consecutive shutouts, eight consecutive multi-goal wins, and a plethora of postseason awards.
Central Methodist, the 2X defending national champion, was the highest ranked team the Bobcats have ever played in program history.
Leading up to the contest, the Cal Pac champion Bobcats had outscored opponents 30-0 on the year and had a program-record shutout streak of 720 minutes.
However, all good things must come to an end.
The Bobcats shutout streak came to an end in the 60th minute, when Central's Theo Klein received a through ball and after three dribbles, used his right foot to bury a shot into the far side of the net.
Approximately 90 ticks later, Central was the victim of a foul inside the box and the Eagles' Tom Irion converted a penalty kick to double the lead.
Central outshot UC Merced 14-8, 5-1 on goal.
Hugo Soto was responsible for the Bobcats only shot on goal. His opportunity came midway through the first half, shooting one from about 25 yards out that took a hop before ending up in the hands of the opponent's keeper.
Soto held team-high with three shots overall. Andres Lua and Juan Flores each managed to get off two shots.
Central won the corner kick battle 6-3. Both teams defended corner kicks extremely well and only one shot came as the direct result of a corner. The only shot attempt came on the ninth and final corner kick, a Cristian Gaona shot that sailed high.
The two teams combined for 33 fouls, 18 whistled against the Bobcats, and three yellow cards.
Central's Christian Sanchez was issued a red card in the game's closing minutes. The Eagles, who will be without Sanchez, now take on No. 19 Corban University for the chance to advance to the final site in Columbia County, Ga.
The Bobcats will now look ahead to the fall of 2021. Cal Pac Coach of the Year Albert Martins returns 94% of his roster, including Cal Pac Player of the Year Juan Flores, Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Year Rodolfo Prado, and eight All-Cal Pac postseason selections.
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