College Roundup: UC Merced men’s soccer back in title game

The UC Merced men’s soccer team has spent the last month hoping for a rematch with Marymount California after suffering a 2-1 loss at Lake Field at the beginning of October.

The Bobcats got their wish. UCM booked its place the in the California Pacific Conference Tournament championship match with a thorough 3-0 victory over Embry-Riddle on Thursday afternoon. The No. 2 Bobcats will take on top-seeded and NAIA No. 10 Marymount – who defeated Soka 5-1 in the other semifinal – in Saturday’s title match with an automatic berth into the NAIA Tournament on the line. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Lake Field.

The two teams met in last year’s final, which Marymount won 3-2 in double overtime.

UC Merced (11-6-1) will try to duplicate Thursday’s performance.

Brian Chongtoua opened the scoring just 16 minutes into the match, converting a nice buildup by the Bobcats down the left wing. Derick Zamora was played into the left corner and cut in toward net near the touchline. He had a number of crossing options but spotted a late run by Chongtoua at the top of the 18-yard box. Zamora dropped the ball back toward the penalty spot, and a charging Chongtoua one-timed a shot inside the far post.

Cody Golbad all but put the match away just nine minutes into the second half on an assist from Chongtoua. Artemio Contreras added a third in the 71st minute as the Bobcats outshot ER 14-5. Alan Ochoa made a comfortable two saves in net to earn the shutout.

Women’s soccer

Antelope Valley 2, UC Merced 1 in Torrance – Antelope Valley’s Adriana Zuniga headed home the game winner in the 83rd minute as the Bobcats (12-3-3) were upset in the Cal Pac Tournament semifinals.

Bridget Villanueva opened the scoring for UCM, but despite doubling AVU’s shot total (12-6), the Bobcats couldn’t tack any more on.

Women’s basketball

Merced College 53, Santa Rosa 46 in Merced – Jordan Pierce hit four 3-pointers en route to a game-high 14 points as the Lady Devils upset NorCal No. 7 Santa Rosa in the first round of the Lady Devil Coca-Cola Classic.

Salihah Bey scored 10 points, and Anntranetta Stickman had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds off of the bench for MC (2-2).

Menlo 70, UC Merced 57 in Atherton – A career-high 20 points from Mia Belvin wasn’t enough as a poor second half doomed the Bobcats (1-2) on the road.

UCM shot just 34 percent from the field and turned the ball over 24 times in the loss.

Women’s volleyball

Benedictine-Mesa 3, UC Merced 2 in Riverside – The Bobcats had more than proven themselves comfortable in five-set thrillers, winning five such matches since the start of October. A sixth just eluded them as they fell 17-25, 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 15-9 in the semifinals of the Cal Pac Tournament.

Jaysonna Johnson paced UCM with 14 kills and five blocks. Rachael Schaefer chipped in 13 kills and senior setter Brooke Wheeler closed out her career with a school-record 57 assists.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 1:48 PM with the headline "College Roundup: UC Merced men’s soccer back in title game."