SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw at The Master's University on Saturday afternoon in the nonconference finale.
The Bobcats (2-0-2) finish the nonconference portion of their schedule unbeaten for the first time since 2017 and outscored their opponents 6-2 during the four-game stretch.
Ashton Escamilla scored his first career goal with six seconds left before halftime off an assist from Jesus Enriquez. The Utah Valley transfer cashed in his opportunity from five yards out, beating the keeper with a ground ball shot towards the left corner.
Andres Alonso helped start the goal scoring sequence by sending a long ball into the Bobcats attacking third from his center back position. Kevin Capetillo settled the pass before playing it to Enriquez near the end line, who then set up Escamilla for the Bobcats goal.
Escamilla is the sixth different Bobcat to score in 2023, marking the third time in the last four years that six different Bobcats scored through the first four games of the season.
Enriquez's assist was his team-leading second of the season.
TMU, who had plenty of chances all afternoon and recorded 20 total shots, netted an equalizer in the 55th minute off a rebound.
UC Merced goalkeeper Brycen Miller made a career-high ten saves in the tie. Miller becomes the fifth player in program history with 10+ saves in a match and is the first since Marco Sobrevilla stopped 14 shots in the California Pacific Conference Tournament Championship match in 2021. Four of Miller's ten saves required him to leave his feet.
UC Merced was outshot 20-7 on the day, 11-3 on goal. The Bobcats also had to withstand seven corner kicks while earning just three of their own. TMU recorded four corners within the first 15 minutes, but the Bobcats only allowed one shot as a direct result of those four. TMU also took two early corners in the second half but failed to get a shot off due to the Bobcats strong defense.
Aside from Escamilla's goal, Xavier Barajas and Diego Fresquez threatened the Mustangs. In the 24th minute, Barajas blasted a shot from 25 yards out that was deflected off the goalkeeper, then bounced off the crossbar, and back into the goalkeepers hands.
Fresquez took a free kick in the 75th minute from just outside the box but TMU's keeper made a save near the post.
After that shot, the Bobcats defense did the rest of the work to preserve the draw, standing strong despite five TMU shots. Miller made an impressive save on a header attempt in the 82nd minute.
With the result, the Bobcats extended their program-record regular season unbeaten streak to 20 consecutive matches dating back to last year.
Saturday marked the first ever draw in seven all-time meetings between UC Merced and The Master's. The Bobcats own the series with a 5-1-1 record.
Up next, UC Merced begins California Pacific Conference play at La Sierra University on Thursday, September 7 at 7:00pm.
