Mustangs tie Menlo to stay on top of GSAC

On a hot and sunny day, The Master's men's soccer team battled undefeated Menlo to a 0-0 tie Saturday on Reese Field in Santa Clarita, Calif.
 
The Mustangs (6-2-3, 2-0-1 GSAC) were able to get off 13 shots, 10 of which were on goal, compared to the Oaks' 10 shots with three on goal. TMU goalkeeper Kian Bensend now has five shutouts on the season, moving him to within one of cracking the top 10 of Mustangs keepers season shutouts list.
 
"I'm super proud of the guys," said Head Coach Jim Rickard. "Obviously a tie leaves you very hungry and doesn't sit right. But our goal is number one, to get a shutout, and number two is to out-shoot the other team. And we did both of those."
 
An October heat wave in Southern California effected both teams, with mandated water breaks in each half. Temperatures reached into the 90s during the match, but Coach Rickard felt it might have given his team an advantage.
 
"I think the heat effected both teams negatively, but it was probably a little more of an advantage to us," he said. "But, we played Thursday and they didn't, so how did that possibly factor? What this showed is we can compete in tough elements against a very good team, but we need to be hungry and find that one person every game that will turn us into a championship team."
 
The Oaks charged out of the locker room at the half on a mission and controlled the tempo and possessions of the game. But after the second half water break, The Master's controlled more and more chances, and when the game was winding down it was the Mustangs who provided all the pressure.
 
"I like how we ended the game in the last three or four minutes," Rickard said. "We were not defending in our half. To keep it up there and keep pounding it in and pounding it in… I'm really proud of how hard we fought to the end."
 
Prince Chingancheke had four shots (three on goal), followed by David Cloar with three and Alexis Garcia with two. Matt Picht, Tyrik Trotman, Giorgio Martino and Kai Terentieff each took one shot.
 
The Master's will get a week off before traveling to Costa Mesa to play at Vanguard. Kickoff is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.