BOX SCORE

ROHNERT PARK, Calif- With Sonoma State leading 1-0 late in the match, Cal State Dominguez Hills converted a penalty kick in the 90th minute to force overtime, but Taylor Varnadore came up big for the Seawolves, connecting on a header shot at 106:16 to give the Seawolves a thrilling 2-1 victory over the 24th-ranked Toros on Sunday afternoon at the Seawolf Soccer Field. SSU improves to 7-4-1 overall and is tied for first place in the CCAA North Division at 6-3-1. CSUDH falls to 8-3-1 and 6-3-1 in the CCAA.

"What a game!" SSU head coach #Marcus Ziemer exclaimed. "I was proud of the guys for bouncing back after giving up the late (penalty kick). I thought we picked it up in overtime and dominated. (Cal State) Dominguez Hills is our biggest rival and we always have battles with them. They are a very good team and after we scored in the second half, they turned it up a notch and put us under a lot of pressure."

Ziemer added, "This was a huge win for us. We have had our ups and down, but this shows that we are still a force to be reckoned with in the CCAA!"

The match was a highly physical game from start to finish between Sonoma State and Cal State Dominguez Hills, as it is everytime the teams get together on one field. It was a relatively calm first half, though, despite plenty of scoring opportunites by each squad. The Toros outshot the Seawolves, 7-5, in the opening half, but none of the 12 combined shots found netting. It did keep both goalkeepers -- SSU's Taylor Jones and CSUDH's Markus Dickerson -- extremely busy with Jones making four saves and Dickerson stopping three. The Toros best chance to take the lead was at 40:31 when Ronald Ybarra fired a shot that went off the post and out of play.

The Seawolves didn't waste any time in the second half to put a goal up on the scoreboard. Cory Taufer took possession of the ball near midfield and moved upfield to find Nico Spann out on the wing. Spann shook a defender and sprinted to the baseline where he served a pass into the box. Trevor Hurst came crashing in, heading the ball past Dickerson and into the left corner of the net for the Sonoma State 1-0 lead.

From then on, the match became more intense and with that came 22 fouls in the second half alone (47 in the entire match, including overtime). When it seemed that the Seawolves would hold the Toros off and earn the 1-0 win, Sonoma State was whistled for hand ball in the penalty box, therefore awarding Cal State Dominguez Hills a penalty kick with just 54 seconds left in regulation. Billy Gutierrez took the kick and fired it low and to the left. Jones dove to his right, but the ball snuck in past his outstretched fingers and the Toros knotted the match at 1-1 and forced overtime.

In the extra periods, Sonoma State took the match into its own hands and dominated the entire time, eventually outshooting Cal State Dominguez Hills, 7-0, in both overtimes. It was the seventh shot by SSU that counted and it was Varnadore, who redeemed himself at 106:16.

Rewind two minutes. Varnadore almost netted the golden goal at 104:06 when he took a wide open shot from point blank range, but his attempt sailed high over the crossbar and the match remained tied.

Fast forward two minutes. Varnadore got himself another chance and he didn't disappoint. Brian Angel served a ball over to Hurst on the right side of the field, before Hurst lofted a pass into the box. Varnadore, as he has done all season long, came flying in to net the golden goal and the Seawolves rushed onto the field in a frenzied celebration, tackling a shirtless Varnadore over near the left corner of the field.

"Our defense was phenomenal," Ziemer added. "Taylor Jones has had two great games since moving back into the goal and Ebby Lombardi, Trevor Tennant, Kyle Honaker and Angel were sharp on defense and also in the buildup."

The Seawolves ended up outshooting the Toros, 18-12, in the match, due in part to the 7-0 advantage in both overtimes. Varnadore attempted a match-high six shots and Justin Ferreira added five. Dickerson made eight saves between the posts for CSUDH while SSU's Jones made six stops, three of which came off the foot of Toro forward Jordan Rover.

It was the result that the Seawolves needed to remain atop the CCAA North Division standings, as Cal State Stanislaus also won 2-1 in double overtime over UC San Diego to remain tied with the Seawolves at 6-3-1. Chico State fell into third place with its 3-2 defeat at the hands of Cal State San Bernardino.

It will be a race to the finish line with six matches left in the regular season. However, it will be a tough test for Sonoma State as it will play its next four matches on the road, starting with a date at Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday in Seaside. First kick is set for 3:00 p.m. After matches at Cal State East Bay (Sunday), at Cal State San Bernardino (Oct. 21) and at UC San Diego (Oct. 23), the Seawolves will finally come back home for the final weekend of the regular season in a pair of huge matches with a North Division title on the line. Cal State Stanislaus will come in on Oct. 28 before SSU ends the regular season on Oct. 30, hosting archrival Chico State.

SIDE NOTE: Ziemer concluded by wanting to thank his redshirt freshmen for helping to rake the entire field prior to Sunday's game. Because of heavy rains earlier in the week, the playing field was unable to be mowed until late Saturday afternoon. Since the grass had grown quite a bit, plenty of grass had been left behind and the redshirts stepped in to rake huge piles off of the field to make it playable for Sunday's matches.