ROHNERT PARK, Calif-  Behind a stellar defensive performance and a first half goal from Ryan Hall, the seventh-ranked Sonoma State men's soccer team blanked top-ranked Cal State L.A. 1-0 on Sunday afternoon in front of 1,142 fans at Seawolf Field, the largest regular season crowd in school history.  The Seawolves improve to 11-1-2, 8-1-1 CCAA on the season while the Golden Eagles drop to 11-2-1, 9-2-1 CCAA.

The victory over the west region's top-ranked squad could push the Seawolves, who were ranked second in last week's NCAA regional rankings, into the No. 1 position.

"That was an incredible game," head coach Marcus Ziemer said. 'Both teams gave it everything they had. Cal State L.A. is an outstanding team and I am sure we see them again later on down the road. "

It was a very intense match from the opening kick off, including five yellow cards and two red card ejections. But it was Sonoma State that drew first blood when Hall came flying in with a header off a corner kick from sophomore Cam Vickers on the far side. The ball from Vickers was placed perfectly in the box on the near side of the post when Hall put it past Cal State L.A. keeper Tobias Hummel for the 1-0 lead at 13:45.

"Ryan Hall has scored some big goals for us, but that was his biggest," said Ziemer. "He is very dangerous."

"The crowd was incredible and it was great to see so many of our soccer alums out cheering us on," Ziemer added. "When (Hall) scored, he headed straight for them, which was awesome."

Sonoma State continued to dominate the offensive end of the field, outshooting the Golden Eagles 8-2 in the first 45 minutes of play. However, L.A.'s Federico Cino fired off a shot on goal with just six minutes to go before halftime that had gotten past SSU's netminder Brook Johnson but a Seawolf defender was there to kick it away at the last second to preserve the lead. Erick Delgado also had a fantastic opportunity to extend the Seawolves' lead before halftime but the shot ricocheted off the crossbar and was cleared by L.A. defenders.

The second half became more intense as the match played on and the Golden Eagles played more aggressively on the offensive side of the field, outshooting Sonoma State 7-3 in the final half. Cal State L.A.'s Kristian Gaustad then broke loose on the far side in behind the Sonoma State defense and went one-on-one with Johnson in the 81st minute but Gaustad fired the shot directly at Johnson from point blank range and the ball took a huge bounce the other way.

Just before that, though, the Golden Eagles' had to play a man down due to a straight red card at 74:01 on Anton Gunnarsson following a collision in mid-air on the far side of the field. Just eight minutes later, Delgado got tangled up on the ground after a play and was also awarded a straight red card at 82:28, evening the playing field at 10 players per team.

Cal State L.A. then had one final shot at 86:46 by Hector Macias that was blocked by a Sonoma State defender, helping the Seawolves upset the top-ranked team in the country.

"Our defense played very well," Ziemer added. "(Cal State L.A.) has several dangerous forwards and I thought that we did a great job of keeping them in front of our back line. If they did get through the back line, Brook (Johnson) was there to save us and the save he made at the end of the game was just incredible."

Defender Stuart Gallant led all players with three shots and Hall, who scored the eventual game-winner in only the 14th minute, added two shots. Johnson only made the one aforementioned save in the victory, notching his sixth shutout this season. The defense in front of Johnson also played huge in the victory for the Seawolves as well.

"Our defense is nails," said Ziemer. "With (Johnson) in the goal, Hall and Casey Dayton are tough to beat in the center of our defense. "Gallant and Ebby Lombardi are very solid on the outside and Cory Taufer  sits in front at defensive midfield. Not only are they good defensively, but they are all great on the ball and can help us build up and control the game."

Cino and Derrek Horn combined for four of L.A.'s nine shots in the match and Hummel made one stop for the Golden Eagles between the posts.

Sonoma State will spend five of its last six matches on the road beginning Friday when the Seawolves travel to Cal State Monterey Bay to take on the Otters at 3 p.m.

Box Score:  No. 7 Sonoma State 1, No. 1 Cal State L.A. 0