Box Score Thousand Oaks, Calif., Sept. 20, 2015 – The No. 24-ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's soccer team erupted for a season-high five goals in the first half en route to a 5-1 win at California Lutheran University Sunday afternoon in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The five goals scored are the most since Sept. 16, 2011, – a 5-0 win over Birmingham Southern College at home.
WashU extended its unbeaten streak to five games and improved to 4-1-2, while Cal Lutheran lost its fifth-straight game and fell to 1-5-1.
Junior Grant Baltes scored in the fourth minute on an assist from senior Jack West to give WashU the early 1-0 lead.
Cal Lutheran tied it up with a goal by Pedro Zaccarelli in the 19th minute, but WashU answered right back in the 25th minute on an unassisted goal by West off a free kick. The goal for West was his team-leading third of the season and 11th of his career.
WashU put the game out of reach with three goals in a four-minute span. Sophomore Andrew Zingone made it 3-1 with a shot to the left corner in the 31st minute, and then junior Drew Gottwald and sophomore Nick Knight scored 48 seconds apart to extend the advantage to 5-1.
"The ball was eventually going to go in for us," said WashU head coach Joe Clarke. "Cal Lutheran played with a high back line today and our guys got into good shooting positions"
Junior goalkeeper Daniel Geanon tied a career-high with eight saves, including five in the first half. The Bears outshot Cal Lutheran 12-11.
"I think this builds up our confidence by winning these two games in California," Clarke added. "We still need to tighten up in front of our goal, but I am happy about the play of our team this weekend."
WashU returns to action with a road game at Illinois Wesleyan University (3-3-1) Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: This was the first meeting between WashU and Cal Lutheran … The Bears are 3-0 on the road this season … Geanon ranks third in the UAA with a 0.32 goals against average.
