TURLOCK, Calif- Senior
Eric Lafon scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to lead second-ranked Sonoma State to a 3-2 win over Cal State Stanislaus in the CCAA opener for both squads in Turlock. The win lifts the Seawolves' record to 6-1-0, 1-0-0 CCAA. The Warriors tumble to 1-2-1, 0-1-0 CCAA.
Lafon scored twice and
Ross Middlemiss had a goal and an assist as the Seawolves continued to get contributions from the pair of 'unsung' heroes. Despite strong junior campaigns, neither was awarded with All-CCAA status last season. They are doing their best to make sure that won't happen again as Middlemiss is among the nation's leaders with eight goals and Lafon is not far behind with five.
Sunday's win came on the heels of their first loss, a 2-1 overtime defeat at the hands of Notre Dame de Namur. It was the second time the Seawolves have won in OT this season as they beat Hawaii Pacific in double overtime a couple weeks ago.
Middlemiss scored the game's first goal in the 14th minute off an assist from
Davide Furtado, a freshman earning his first career start. The Warriors would tie it up in the 38th and the score would remain 1-1 until midway through the second half . That's when Lafon scored his first goal of the game, off a Middlemiss feed. Nine minutes later, Stanislaus' Matt Ryan scored to again knot things up.
Just two minutes into overtime, the Seawolves would break through with Lafon netting the game-winner off an
Andrew Bailey helper.
The Seawolves dominated the stat sheet, posting 26 shots to the Warriors' 11.
Said head coach
Marcus Ziemer, "We showed a lot of grit and worked hard for the winning goal. It was a tough weekend on the road and now we have a day off to recover, then we are going to work our butts off and get our mentality back. We are giving up too many soft goals and we need to tighten things up if we are going to accomplish anything this year."
The Seawolves continue CCAA play next week when they host San Francisco State and Cal State Monterey Bay.
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