BOX SCORE Cal State Dominguez Hills 3, Sonoma State 2 -- Box Score

CARSON, Calif. -- Taylor Varnadore scored his conference-leading eighth goal of the season and Brenton Frame added a goal late in the second half, but the Sonoma State men's soccer team couldn't overcome three Cal State Dominguez Hills goals, including two that came in the final nine minutes of the match, falling 3-2 on Friday night at the Home Depot Center's main stadium in Carson, Calif. 

The Seawolves, who are 1-5-2 since starting the CCAA schedule at 4-0-0, fall to 6-6-2 overall and 5-5-2 in conference play, trailing second-place Cal State Stanislaus by three points.  The Toros improve to 9-5-1 and 9-4 in the CCAA with their sixth straight win.

It was an intense match from start to finish, as is every match played between the two squads -- Sonoma State and Cal State Dominguez Hills, in addition to their annual regular season matchup, always seem to play each other for the CCAA tournament title.  In fact, the two teams have faced each other in the CCAA final five times since 2005 with the Seawolves winning three of those times.

It would be the host Toros to strike first under the bright lights of the Home Depot Center, however, as Aaron Salazar would net the first of his two goals on the night at 29:28.  Teammate Jordan Hatanaka sent a cross to Salazar, where Salazar flicked a header over SSU goalkeeper Beau Diaz for a 1-0 lead.  With two seconds before the halftime whistle, Varnadore seemed to have scored the equalizer, but he would end up being called offside and the score would remain at 1-0 in favor of CSUDH at the intermission.

The second half would be awfully different as it would feature four goals, three of which would be scored in the final nine minutes.  Though his goal would be called back right before half, Varnadore would find a way to net the equalizer anyway, a header in the 50th minute after a pass from Brian Angel found Varnadore at the goalmouth.

The Toros' Salazar, however, struck again at 81:37 after launching a 16-yard bender up and over Diaz's left shoulder, nestling in the upper V to give Cal State Dominguez Hills a 2-1 lead.  Miguel Vazquez looked to put the game away just three minutes later after taking a rebound off a Ryan Evans' blast and putting his sitter into an empty net for a 3-1 CSUDH lead with just 5:14 left in regulation.

The Seawolves wouldn't go away quietly, however, as it launched a final push when Brenton Frame collected a loose ball in the CSUDH goalmounth, and headed his shot past backup keeper Juan Quiroz at 87:36 to cut the Seawolves' deficit to 3-2.  That would be the closest SSU would get, though, as the Toros would hold on for the win.

Kelly Davila and Chris Pihl would attempt three shots each, but SSU would be outshot 17-11, including 12-7 in the final 45 minutes.  Diaz made six stops in the loss.

With just two conference matches remaining, Sonoma State will look to get back into the win column on Sunday when it travels to Cal State L.A. for a 11:30 a.m. match with the Golden Eagles.