BOX SCORE Sonoma State 3, Menlo 0 -- Box Score

SANTA ROSA -- Freshman Chris Pihl scored a pair of goals in the first half and senior Cory Taufer scored his first collegiate goal on a penalty kick in the second half as the Sonoma State men's soccer team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Menlo College on Senior Day at Trione Fields in Santa Rosa, Calif.  Wednesday was the final regular season home game for the Seawolves, who improve to 7-7-2 this season.  Menlo, an NAIA school from Atherton, drops to 9-3-3.

"This was a big win for us in terms of building confidence as we move towards the end of our season," SSU head coach Marcus Ziemer said.  "We're not normally in a position where the season is over before it's actually over, but we're going to finish strong and have a lot of pride in doing so."

Pihl got the Seawolves on the board at 12:56 when he launched an attempt from 10 yards out that beat Menlo keeper Alex Palomarez to the left side of the net for the 1-0 SSU lead.  At 34:30, Pihl struck again, this time on a one-touch slide from the top of the box after a cross pass from Jomed Tejan snuck by Palomarez, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Then, in the second half, Menlo was called for a foul in the penalty box and almost immediately, the entire team called Taufer's name to take the ensuing kick.  On the whistle, Taufer blasted a shot into the right side of the net as Palomarez guessed wrong and dove the other way.

"I'm glad that Cory (Taufer) got the opportunity to score his first goal and for his brother (Sean Taufer) to play in his first collegiate game on his brother's Senior Day and play well at goalkeeper, I'm happy for those two," Ziemer said.

Offensively, the Seawolves held a 12-9 advantage in shots, led by the three attempts of both Pihl and Angel.  Andrew Cota took five of the nine Menlo shots in the game, only one coming on goal.  S.Taufer earned his first career shutout, making two saves, while Palomarez made one stop.

"I'm happy for all of our seniors -- Frank Becerril, Taufer, Brian Angel and Jomed Tejan, they played great today and I want to thank them for their hard work over the years here at Sonoma," added Ziemer.  "They will be missed."

"We have a big game on Sunday (at Cal State Stanislaus) and we'll be ready for that," Ziemer concluded.

As mentioned, Sonoma State will travel to Turlock on Sunday to face Cal State Stanislaus in a 2:00 p.m. kickoff at Warrior Stadium to close out the CCAA schedule.  The Seawolves will then finish the 2012 regular season with a non-conference game at Cal State East Bay next Tuesday (Oct. 30) at 5:00 p.m.