By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PUEBLO, Colo. – Late goals from freshman Evan Huber and junior Nathan Jimenez lifted No. 14 Western Oregon to a 2-0 win over No. 6 Point Loma in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Soccer West Region Championships on Thursday afternoon at Gonzales Stadium on the campus of Colorado State-Pueblo.
 
Western Oregon (14-4-1) advanced to a second-round match against No. 15 Colorado State Pueblo (14-3-3), which is set for a 2 p.m. (Mountain) kickoff on Saturday. It is a rematch of the opening game of the 2024 campaign, which then-No. 2 CSU-Pueblo won 3-0 over the Wolves on Sept. 5.
 
The Sea Lions, who won the 2024 PacWest Conference title with 28 points, saw their season end with a record of 11-4-3.
 
Huber’s goal was his third of the season and Jimenez contributed his first finish of the year to secure the win for WOU. Jimenez also had his third assist of the year on Huber’s finish, while Jacob Garcia turned in his team-leading seventh assist of the season on Jimenez’s goal.
 
A second-half, offensive onslaught by the Wolves was escalated when a red card was issued to PLNU’s Kaelele Fernandez in the 70th minute, leaving the Sea Lions down a player for the final 20 minutes of action. WOU, which had been displaying signs of offensive command prior to the send off, capitalized finding the net twice in the final 10 minutes of play.
 
The Wolves held their breath with 11 minutes to go, when PLNU’s Elijah Langford blasted a shot from point blank range just wide of the post. Huber’s game-winner followed less than a minute later, as he put the Wolves in front for good directly on the other end of the pitch. After a ball from Jimenez was knocked down inside the box, Huber calmly turned and finished a low shot into the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
 
Less than four minutes later, Garcia found himself with space in the left corner and delivered a cross towards the penalty spot. Jimenez timed a volley perfectly, ripping it past PLNU goalkeeper Reinier Ter Riet to put the game out of reach. WOU finished the match with an 11-8 advantage in shots, while each team won three corner kicks. GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Andre Schlaefli made a pair of saves, securing his fifth shutout of the season. The back line of Harper Neubeck, Ethan Fisher and Caleb Kiner were instrumental in securing the clean sheet as well.
 
The Wolves came out of the opening whistle on the front foot, winning a corner kick in the opening five minutes that resulted in the first nervy moment of the afternoon for the Sea Lions. Neubeck had a good look towards goal 15 minutes into the match, firing a strike that required a close-range save by Ter Riet.
 
The opening half featured an evenly-contested flow, with both teams holding possession at times and creating chances. One of WOU’s best looks came five minutes before halftime, when Alex Grignon got position on his defender and pushed a header shot from inside the box over the crossbar.
 
WOU put continuous pressure on the PLNU back line to open the second half, with the red card coming on a play where a Wolves attacker was judged to have been dragged down from behind on his way to a clear goal-scoring opportunity. While WOU didn’t capitalize on the ensuing, close-range free kick, being up a player benefitted the team in finding a pair of breakthroughs late to prevent overtime.
 
GAME NOTES: Thursday marked the first-ever NCAA playoff game for the Wolves, who are in just their third season of existence in 2024…it was the first-ever men’s soccer meeting between WOU and PLNU…it was WOU’s second match against a nationally-ranked opponent this season, the other being a 3-0 loss to No. 2 CSU-Pueblo on Sept. 5 in the season opener.