BOX SCORE

ARCATA, Calif- Thursday's CCAA North Division showdown between Sonoma State and host Humboldt State featured nine goals and plenty of entertainment for those in attendance at College Creek Field. After a back-and-forth scoring battle, the Lumberjacks were able to knot the match at 4-4 with under eight minutes to play in regulation. Just two minutes later and 5:46 showing on the game clock, freshman Michel Arroyo chipped a shot into the net and the Seawolves escaped Arcata with a wild 5-4 victory.

Sonoma State snapped a brief two-match losing streak, rising to 6-3-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the CCAA and extending its lead in the North Division standings to five points over Chico State and Cal State Monterey Bay. Humboldt State falls to just 2-6-0 overall and 2-5-0 in conference play.

"It was a crazy game," SSU head coach Marcus Ziemer said. "We played really well in the first 20 minutes, but then (Humboldt State) scored twice. We showed a lot of character to come back and tie it up at halftime. From then on, we just kept battling back. You have to give Humboldt (State) a lot of credit. They never quit, even when they were behind at the end."

Right from the first kick, the match looked like it was going to be dominated by the explosive Sonoma State offense. The Seawolves had a 7-0 advantage in shots, including four attempts by Taylor Varnadore, and a 2-0 lead in corner kicks...all in just the first 18:32 of the match.

Before anyone could blink, Humboldt State struck first. On their first shot attempt of the day at 21:12, Dan Mariani fired a shot into the box where Zach Hammond redirected the ball past SSU goalkeeper Andrew Ball and the 'Jacks led 1-0, despite the 7-1 disadvantage in shots. Twelve minutes later at 33:55, the home team converted again and led 2-0.

It was only a matter of time before Sonoma State would mount its comeback. In fact, the comeback began just 1:27 later when Trevor Hurst applied pressure on the Lumberjack defense when they tried to clear the ball. Hurst took control of the ball and blasted a shot to put Sonoma's first goal up on the scoreboard at 35:22. Then, only 3:02 later, Varnadore finally converted his sixth shot attempt when he flew into the box on a serve by Brian Angel at 38:24.

SSU and HSU combined for four goals in a span of 17 minutes, but the first half came to an end before anyone else could tally another score, despite two late shot attempts by the 'Jacks, which sailed wide. The Seawolves would hold the 10-6 lead in shots, but both teams would kick three corners each.

In the second half, Humboldt State's Eric Baumgardner notched his second goal of the game at 54:54 when he fired a shot from point plank range, putting the hosts up 3-2.

Sonoma State answered. And then answered again. Arroyo netted his first goal of the afternoon at 58:58 to again tie the match at 3-3 -- this time just four minutes after HSU took the 3-2 lead. It was the result of a free kick by Ebby Lombardi, in which Arroyo was able to get his head on it and poke it past HSU keeper Kyle Verle. The flurry of scoring would quell for the next 20 minutes until Ebby Lombardi stole possession of the ball near midfield, dribbled up and rocketed a shot up into the left corner of the net at 77:32, putting SSU up 4-3.

Humboldt State wouldn't go away quietly. At 82:02, Mitchell Butt would rebound a shot taken by his teammate Brian Holmes, finishing it into the net to knot the match at 4-4 with 7:52 remaining in regulation.

However, it was only two minutes later that Arroyo found the net again, a blast from outside that eventually gave Sonoma State the 5-4 win in enemy territory.

"The two final goals scored by Lombardi and Arroyo were unbelievable," Ziemer explained. "They were goal of the year candidates, both just bombs taken from the outside (of the penalty box)."

The Seawolves, in addition to the 5-4 win on the scoreboard, also led 20-13 in shots and 6-5 in corner kicks. Seven of SSU's 20 attempts came off the head of Varnadore while Hurst chipped in with four shots. Lombardi had the aforementioned goal and led the way with two assists. Ball made one save in goal.

Lumberjack netminder Verle made five saves, four of which came in the final 45 minutes of play. Ray Lind fired a team-high four shots for Humboldt State and Nate Roupp added three.

Ziemer concluded by saying, "Crazy, crazy game, but I'm proud of the guys for pulling it out. We have to regroup and then, obviously, Sunday is going to be a very difficult game at (Cal State) Stanislaus."

It will in fact be a tough match for Sonoma State when it travels to Turlock on Sunday to face Cal State Stanislaus (5-3-0, 3-3-0 CCAA). The two teams split the season series last season, with both winning at home. First kick from Warrior Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.