SEASIDE, Calif. – Dominican men's soccer may have lost a lot of production with last year's senior class, but a new era began in 2025 with a 2-1 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday at Cardinale Stadium.
The Penguins (1-0-0) were outshot 17-11 by the Otters in the game, but held a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal proving to be efficient with their chances.
Dimani Mathlin and
Jake Kazlauskas each recorded goals with Collin Nestor earning his first win for Dominican in net with two saves in a complete game of work. CSUMB was led by Sylas Sells who scored a goal and led the team with two shots on frame.
The Otters generated the most chances on the offensive side of the field for much of the first half as the Penguins absorbed pressure with six shots sent towards goal, but not a single on target to test Nestor. An errant pass provided Dominican its first quality chance of the night as the ball fell to the foot of
Jake Kazlauskas who took a few dribbles to the top of the box before sending a low shot back to the far post for the 1-0 lead in the 43rd minute.
Nathan Freitas had a good look at goal in the 56th minute with some chaos at the front of the net but his shot was blocked at the goal line by a defender to keep the score unchanged, but the offensive momentum began to shift towards the Penguins.
Anthony Stainer collected a nice through ball in the 61st minute and had a good look at the goal, but Aria Afshar did a good job of closing the shot angles to collect the save.
Eric Reis then took a free kick in the 64th minute and cleared the top of the wall, but the ball glanced off the left post and out of harm.
Cole Porter had a great one-time, tight-angle shot in the 67th minute but Afshar got a piece of it to steer it outside his near post. In the 74th minute, a well-placed cross off a corner was nodded toward the net by
Ben Schumann but Jacob Burnison blocked the ball with his hand to give Dominican a free kick.
Dimani Mathlin stepped to the spot and calmly placed a low kick inside the right post with Afshar diving the opposite way for the 2-0 lead. Mathlin nearly made it a three-goal lead in the 78th minute as he tracked down a long ball forward with the goalie out near midfield, but the shot went wide.
A collision in the Penguins defensive third resulted in a free kick for CSUMB in the 83rd minute and chaos in front of the net allowed Sells to head the ball high and into the net to cut the lead in half. The Otters continued a furious onslaught in an attempt to tie the game with Sells once again freeing himself inside the 18-yard box in the 86th minute, but Nestor quickly closed the gap and blocked the shot off the foot of Sells to preserve his victory.
Dominican will return home to host Cal State East Bay on Saturday at 2 p.m. PDT at Kennelly Field.
