Men's soccer moves closer to playoff bid with another high-scoring performance

The Master's University men's soccer team knew something needed to change.

"We'd been shut out most of conference," said senior Luis Garcia Sosa, "so going forward we knew it was a must to start making things happen on the offensive side."

Garcia Sosa and Dylan Bielanski led the charge Wednesday, and the Mustangs continued an offensive surge that has them on the cusp of clinching a conference tournament berth.

Master's beat San Diego Christian, 5-0, at San Diego Miramar College behind three goals from Bielanski and two from Garcia Sosa. Bielanski also had one assist and Garcia Sosa had two. 

Since opening GSAC play with back-to-back shutout losses, the Mustangs have lost just once in their last five and are now a win or tie away from securing a bid to the conference tournament — even a home playoff game remains a possibility heading into Saturday's regular-season finale. 

"There's still a lot of work to do this Saturday against a solid Ottawa team," said Bielanski, who recorded the first hat trick of his career Wednesday and moved his season total to 13 goals. 

The Mustangs (8-6-2, 3-3-1 GSAC) have scored nine goals in their last two games — after producing just two through their first five GSAC contests — and are currently alone in fifth place. Master's can extend its season with a win or tie against Ottawa University Arizona (10-4-1, 2-3-1) on Saturday at home, and a TMU win coupled with a Hope International loss would mean a home game for the Mustangs in the tournament's first round. 

A big reason Master's finds itself in contention is an uptick in offensive production. Wednesday, Garcia Sosa scored in the fourth and 36th minutes, while Bielanski found the back of the net once in the first half and twice after the break. 

"We've had better combination play, inter-passing with each other, and that has put us in a much closer place to shoot on goal," said head coach Jim Rickard, whose team beat Arizona Christian 4-1 last week. "It's been higher quality opportunities along with composed finishing."

The Mustangs' defense was also sharp Wednesday. Armando Torres, Kellen Dresdow and Cameron Molyneux helped keep William Nyambo, the Hawks' leading scorer, from getting any forward momentum. Emmanuel Mahowa, the younger brother of former Master's star Humphrey Mahowa, also possesses scoring ability, and Justin Ikeora was exceptional in marking him.

Molyneux, a graduate student, orchestrated the effort.

"Cam led the backline in a veteran way today," Rickard said.