Men's Soccer Wins Home Opener 2-1

Goals from freshman J.R. Green and Henry Kraus -- combined with a great defensive effort in the second half -- propelled the Keelhaulers to their first win of 2017.

A festive crowd of students, faculty and staff allowed the Keelhaulers to finally enjoy some home cooking this season. The "Blue Crew" was loud and proud at Bodnar Field on the Campus of the Cal Maritime Academy in Vallejo, and the Keelhaulers gave them a lot to cheer about.

The Pioneers (0-7-1, 0-4) struck first when Nathan Diaz got behing the defense and put a shot in to give PUC a 1-0 lead.

The Keelhaulers would not hang their heads or quit attacking as J.R. Green would score just over three minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. It was Green's first game of the season and he made an instant impact througout the first half. Green is one of many new comers who has provided a spark and some skill to Coach Konstantinopoulos' squad even if they are a little... well... green.

"We only lost a couple of seniors from last year, and the good thing about this year is we have about three or four pretty decent freshman that have come in," coach Konstantinopoulos said. "Other than being a little green or little smaller and not used to the college pace, I think they'll be a pretty good asset for us in the years coming up."

The Keelhaulers (1-3. 1-3) took the lead in the second half when freshman Henry Kraus checked into the game, and almost immediately broke into the clear, corralled the ball away from the diving goal keeper, and calmly put one in the back, left side of the net to make 2-1 Cal Maritime. Kraus also assisted on Green's goal giving him a three-point night.

Though the Keelhaulers were out shot in the game, Cal Maritime certainly had the higher quality shots. Goal Keeper David Henderson did have to make a few dazzling saves, but for the most part was able to cleanly and easily handle the Pioneers attempts. The Keelhaulers defense did a great job of forcing the Pioneers to shoot from the perimiter.

Upper classmen Patrick Mish, Jonah Grier and Nick Bear were able to stop Pioneer attackers before they could get into the box for the majority of the game, and that lead to offense for Green, Kraus and fellow freshman Blake Rerucha.

Cal Maritime will have a much stiffer test this Saturday at 1 p.m. when they will host the #18-ranked Marymount of California at Bodnar Field.