UC Merced men’s soccer loses for the first time this season

The UC Merced Bobcats men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Thursday. Embry-Riddle (AZ) defeated the Bobcats 2-1 with the help of goals by Jacob Baker and David Bates.

UC Merced (5-1-4, 3-1-1) out shot the opponent 7-3 in the first half and senior David Esparza notched his third goal of the season to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. Esparza’s goal came on an assist from Marcus DeCouto.

Junior goalkeeper, David Hernandez and the UC Merced defense held Embry Riddle scoreless for the first 71 minutes of the contest before the Eagles responded with two goals in an 11-minute stretch.

Women’s Soccer

Embry-Riddle 2, UC Merced 0 in Merced – The 18th-ranked Embery-Riddle (AZ) as Brianna Larkin and Maddy Markham scored second-half goals for ERAU (9-3, 3-0).

Emma Broderick tied her career high with five saves for UC Merced (5-5-1, 2-2).

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 12:30 PM with the headline "UC Merced men’s soccer loses for the first time this season."