[Men's Soccer] UCM, USK Gain Momentum Heading Into League Play

With the first matches starting this week, UC Merced and Saint Katherine gained some momentum going into the first week of California Pacific Conference action.  The first conference matches will kick off this Friday, Sept. 9, when La Sierra visits Simpson, and on Sunday Soka will play at SU while LSU travels to UCM.  USK won twice last week, topping Providence Christian 3-1 in a non-conference matchup and blanking La Verne 1-0 on Thursday.  The Bobcats, who received votes in the NAIA preseason coaches' poll, ran over The Master's 6-1 on Tuesday before playing Hope International to a 2-2 draw on Saturday.  Andres Lua tallied his first career hat-trick against TMU, with all three goals coming in a 21-minute stretch.  He scored his first goal in the 50th minute before finding the back of the net again in the 55th and 71st minute.  Lua's first goal was his 14th career game-winning goal, the most out of any Cal Pac player in league history.