ARCATA - (Sept. 8) Jonathan Eseman made the most of his short time in the game Friday, scoring one goal and assisting on another to lift Humboldt State over Cal State Los Angeles, 2-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association men's soccer opener.

Eseman, the Jack's leading scorer, left the game midway through the first half after aggravating a toe injury and also being flagged with a yellow card. He remained out of the lineup until late in the game, subbing in to make a brief appearance.

"I thought Jon Eseman had a big impact on the game's early minutes, but I don't like to take a chance with a player if I can avoid it, so we took him out," HSU head coach Andy Cumbo said. "Overall, our backline stood and and didn't allow themselves to get beat. That's what made the difference in the second half."

Only 10 minutes into the game, Humboldt found the net, or rather crossed the goal line with a shot by Trel Mangarin just eased past the keeper. Mangarin put his foot on a ball crossed into a crowd by Eseman.

Humboldt State maintained the pressure on the Golden Eagles, and was rewarded again just over 18 minutes into the first half. This time, Eseman corraled a ball crossed by Mark Nelson and deked the keeper out of position, dribbling around him beore drilling the ball into the goal.

While keeping the pressure on HSU much of the second half, the Golden Eagles were unable to dent the net until the 87th minute. Jilmer Moralez located a loose ball on the left side of the goalmouth, and sent it in for the lone score.

Much of the contest was characterized by rugged and aggressive play, leading to the issuing of six yellow cards, three on each side. Cal State L.A. was whistled for 25 fouls while the Lumberjacks were called for 16.

"We've made a great deal of progress in keeping our composure under difficult circumstances," Cumbo said. "We kept our cool overall, and that is progress."

The victory improved HSU to 3-0 overall while Cal State L.A. fell to 0-3-1. The Lumberjacks play again Sunday, hosting Cal State Bakersfield at 12:30 p.m. on the HSU Soccer Field.

 Cal State L.A. (0-3-1, 0-1-0) vs. Humboldt State (3-0-0, 1-0-0)
Date: Sep 08, 2006  Attendance: 246
Weather: partly cloudy, 60 degrees

Goals by period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
Cal State L.A.......  0  1 -  1
Humboldt State......  2  0 -  2

SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.   9:55 HSU MANGARIN, Trel (ESEMAN, Jon) - cross from far side, bumped in.
  2.  18:29 HSU ESEMAN, Jon (NELSON, Mark) - captured ball, dribbled around keeper fo
  3.  87:25 CSULA MORALEZ, Jilmer (unassisted) -  found loose ball on left and put it in.

Shots: Cal State L.A. 16, Humboldt State 9
Saves: Cal State L.A. 3 (FRY, Patrick 3), Humboldt State 5 (RYAN, Drew
5)

###