BURNABY, B.C. – A compelling effort came up short for the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team as they fell to California State San Bernardino 1-0 Thursday night at Terry Fox Field in a non-conference, regular season opening game. Pedro Arellano scored the winning goal in in the 76^th minute of the non-conference matchup and the Coyotes held off the Yellowjackets late to move to 1-0 on the season.
 
The 'Jackets generated chances throughout but placed just one of 11 total shots on goal in defeat. The score remained tied at zero after the first half but both teams created offensive looks. The most dangerous chance for CSUSB came in the 30^th minute, but MSUB goalkeeper Jessy Martin kept the ball out. Both teams enjoyed great time of possession.
 
"We pressed well and won a lot of balls but the details were missing and we didn't capitalize in the first half," commented assistant coach Tom Lohmann after the game.
 
Into the second half, Marvin Putu broke free in the 66^th minute but could not score on a one-on-one with goalkeeper Jacob Huber as Huber made the save. Later, a collision between MSUB teammates Yaniss Aka and Samuele Folla forced substitutions for both.
 
"After we had to substitute for Yaniss and Samuele, we lost our rhythm a bit," Lohmann said. "The effort level was great but we were scored on after a scrappy throw in. We need to learn from this game, become if we can be more mature and fix the details on both ends of the field, we can be more successful. The leadership and chemistry of the team has been great so far and we're looking forward to building moving forward."
 
Shantik Bedrosian and Theo Lamare led the Yellowjackets with two shot attempts apiece, but none found their way on goal. Putu recorded a shot on goal on his only attempt.
 
Jessy Martin made five saves for MSUB and played all 90 minutes. Yellow cards were issued to Bedrosian as well as Brandon Sangbarani, Carlos Esparza, and Hieu Ngo of San Bernardino.
 
The Yellowjackets fell to the Coyotes in San Bernardino 4-1 in September, 2018 in their last meeting, marking improvement from a year ago.
 
THE BUZZ: Marvin Putu was named St. Vincent Healthcare player of the game for recording the only MSUB shot on goal and most potent scoring chance.
 
NEXT UP: The Yellowjackets stay in British Columbia to take on No. 2 Cal Poly Pomona Saturday, September 7 at 11:30 a.m. local time. It will be the final game in the SFU Showdown Tournament.