BOX SCORE Cal State San Bernardino 2, Sonoma State 1 -- Box Score

ROHNERT PARK -- Kelly Davila converted a penalty kick in the 62nd minute to cut a two-goal deficit in half, but the Sonoma State men's soccer team was unable to overcome two first half goals by Cal State San Bernardino, resulting in a 2-1 home loss on Sunday afternoon. 

The Seawolves are now winless in their last five matches, falling into a tie for second place with Cal State Stanislaus at 4-3-2 in CCAA play (5-4-2 overall), four points behind division leader Chico State.  Meanwhile, the Coyotes move to 4-1-6 overall and 4-1-4 in conference action.

"I actually thought we played very well today," SSU head coach Marcus Ziemer said.  "We battled, moved the ball well, but we gave up a couple of soft goals.  "We're just not getting bounces to go our way, but maybe we don't deserve them right now.  We need to do a better job at finishing our chances."

Cal State San Bernardino put a lot of pressure on the Sonoma State defense early, taking three corner kicks in just a one minute span, but one would be saved by Beau Diaz, one blocked and the other would sail wide to the left, keeping the match scoreless.  However, three minutes later, at 18:30, the Coyotes would connect on a Demetri Burgos goal after a failed clear attempt by the Seawolf back line.

Sonoma State would respond with a string of shots of their own, but none would get past CSUSB netminder Tanner Olinger then or in the first half.  At the 28:45 mark during a Coyote attack, the Seawolves were whistled for a foul in the penalty box, setting up the second CSU San Bernardino goal, a successful penalty kick by Ricardo Velasco., to put the visitors up 2-0.

In the second half, the hosts would begin to swing the momentum their way, and thanks to a foul in the box on Cal State San Bernardino, Davila would cut the deficit in half at 2-1 with a successful penalty kick of his own that found a home in the lower left corner of the net.

From then on, Sonoma State would unleash relentless offensive pressure, spending much of its time in CSUSB territory and firing five shots in the final 25 minutes, many of which were within feet of tying the match.  However, the Coyote defense held strong and came away with the narrow 2-1 victory on the road.

Davila came off the bench to lead all players with four shots, helping the team have a slight advantage in shots (13-10).  Michel Arroyo and Chril Pihl each fired three shots apiece.  Diaz made just one save between the posts, as did his counterpart, Olinger.

"Overall, I was happy with the game," said Ziemer.  "We have to bounce back and get back on a roll, but it's not going to be easy."

Sonoma State will play its final two home conference games on Thursday and Saturday of next week to coincide with the campus' Homecoming celebration.  Thursday's matchup will pit the Seawolves against Cal State East Bay at 12:30 p.m. before Cal State Monterey Bay comes to town on Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. start time.  Of note, SSU will play one more home game after next weekend's contests -- an Oct. 24 non-conference matchup with Menlo College.