LUBBOCK, Texas (November 3, 2021) – The Lubbock Christian University men's soccer team recognized eight graduating seniors prior to Wednesday night's game and then honored them in the best way possible – by beating Dallas Baptist 3-0 for a fourth straight victory.
 
The shutout was the seventh of the season for the Chaparrals, who improved to 8-5-1 and 5-1-1 in conference play. They have now secured a top three seed in the Lone Star Conference tournament and can finish second in the league with a win on Saturday.
 
LCU's defense allowed just four shots during the shutout, three of which were blocked by defenders. The only other one missed wide left, meaning Chap goalkeeper Braxton Thorne was not forced to make a save all night. Lubbock Christian's previous record for shutouts in a season under head coach Paul Gilbert was six, set in 2018. The 2021 Chaps are now one clean sheet away from matching the program record of eight in one season, which was done in both 2013 and 2011. Luca Hollenstein and Ivan Muanze-Bengono played the full 90 minutes on the back line, and Jonathan Woods was on the field for all but four minutes of play.
 
The back line was working with the lead fairly quickly into the match, as Lubbock Christian took a 1-0 lead in just the 13^th minute. Juan Jose Valdez Lopez split two Patriot defenders with a pass to Jacopo Ghezzi, who turned toward the end line before shooting to the far post, past the DBU keeper. It was his third goal of the season and briefly tied him for the team lead in that category. The assist from Valdez was his second of the year.
 
Luciano Rodriguez had shot on goal just two minutes later as the Chaps tried to double their lead, but a nice save was made by Alexander Knepper for the Patriots. Hector Rodriguez-Cabo also had a shot on goal in the opening half and the Chaps had several other good scoring chances, but they went into the break still up just one goal.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half though, the lead was stretched to two. Kevin Mejias started this scoring play by sending a ball through to Tomas Casas, who took one touch toward the end line before passing to the middle. Tariq Bakkali was there waiting to redirect the ball into the back of the net for the 2-0 lead.
 
Mejias and Bakkali combined again just 12 minutes later, this time with some assistance from Pablo Galietero Diez for LCU's third and final goal of the night. Diez drove out wide with the ball and ran up the end line before passing to the top of the box to Mejias. He fired toward the goal, and a redirection off the left foot of Bakkali sent the ball past Knepper and into the goal.
 
With the two goals, Bakkali now leads the team with four on the season. He, Mejias and Rodriguez are tied for the team lead in points with nine each. The brace was the third of Bakkali's career and his first since scoring twice on Sept. 8, 2019 against Colorado Christian. He now has 16 goals and 37 points in his LCU career.
 
Now heading into the final game of the regular season, Lubbock Christian will turn their attention toward a road match with UT Permian Basin on Saturday. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. at Falcon Field.