ROHNERT PARK, Calif- Sonoma State scored early in the first half and early in the second to secure their tenth consecutive victory, 2-1 over UC San Diego on Sunday in Rohnert Park.
Nathan Medina and
Mark Wiedeman had goals as the Seawolves improve to 11-2-1, 9-0-0 CCAA. The Tritons fall to 2-8-2, 1-5-2 CCAA.
The ten-game winning streak ties the school record. SSU won their first ten games of the year in 2002 on their way to the NCAA Division II national championship.
At 9-0-0, the Seawolves are off to their best conference start since 1993, when they won their first ten games as part of the Northern California Athletic Conference. They are also 23-2-1 in their last 26 conference games, dating back to 2005.
Sonoma State found the first goal just four minutes into the game when
Mike Asaro brought the ball in from the right side, dished it to
Andrew Bailey, who found
Nathan Medina and a leaning UCSD goalkeeper. Medina tapped it in for his sixth goal of the season.
Despite an 11-2 shot advantage in the first half, the Seawolves weren't able to put another one in the net until just under two minutes into the second half. Then it was
Mark Wiedeman beating the keeper to the lower right off assists from
Eric Larson and
Ross Middlemiss.
The lead would hold for about ten minutes until UCSD cut the lead in half on a Tony Choi goal. Choi's gathered a loose ball and ricocheted it off the left post and into the net.
The Seawolves held a 19-5 shot advantage and took eight corners to UCSD's seven.
SSU head coach
Marcus Ziemer was impressed with the opponent, calling the Tritons "a good young team that played really hard." Ziemer would go on to say, "We had a chance to put the game away, but we couldn't capitalize on our opportunities."
Frustrated by his team's second half performance, Ziemer said, "It looked like we thought it was a walk in the park. Our fans deserve a better effort from us."
The Seawolves return to action next Friday at Cal State Stanislaus when they start their second trip through the CCAA North Division.
Box Score
