BOX SCORE Chico State 1, #18 Sonoma State 0 (OT) -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- It took overtime to decide a winner, let alone a goal to be scored, but the 18th-ranked Sonoma State men's soccer team would find itself on the losing end of a 1-0 decision after the Wildcats' Matt Hurlow netted the golden goal in the 94th minute, handing the Seawolves (5-2-0, 4-1-0 CCAA) their first loss in conference play on Friday afternoon at the Seawolf Soccer Field in Rohnert Park. Chico State rises to 4-2-1 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play, only to trail SSU by just two points in the CCAA North Division standings.
"Chico (State) played very well," head coach
Marcus Ziemer said. "They wanted (the win) more than us. We weren't sharp in the attack and when we kept giving them the ball, they would just come right back at us. We had a good crowd today and (the crowd) deserves more from us than that."
It was a complete defensive effort for both teams; neither team allowed more than three shots in the first 45 minutes of the match. The momentum would begin to shift in the second half, however, as Chico State stifled the powerful Sonoma State offense, holding the CCAA's highest-scoring team to just one shot in the last 45 minutes, which came on a header attempt by
Dylan Stafford in the 67th minute. Meanwhile, the Wildcat attack would blast seven shots at SSU netminder
Beau Diaz, who made three saves on the only three that were on target. Diaz and the Seawolves would hold strong, though, and force extra time.
The Seawolves would start fast to open the overtime period, as
Taylor Varnadore attempted his one and only shot of the afternoon just 58 seconds in, but the header would sail wide right. Two minutes later, the Wildcats would take a corner kick, but Sonoma State was able to clear the ball past midfield. The ball would find Chico's Kenny Rosecrance, who then spun and served a long ball up and over the Sonoma defense, which then found Hurlow breaking away towards the net. Hurlow dribbled up and fired a shot that snuck past Diaz's fingertips and just inside of the left post at 93:26 to set off a frenzied on-field celebration by Chico State.
Sonoma State, which came into Friday's match averaging 14.7 shots a game, would attempt just five shots, the lowest offensive output in recent memory. Meanwhile, Chico State outshot the hosts 11-5, including 7-1 in the second half, and took more corners, 7-4, than SSU.
Sunday will be no easy task for Sonoma State, either, as Cal State Stanislaus (4-1-1, 2-1-1 CCAA) rolls into town for a 2:00 p.m. showdown at the Seawolf Soccer Field.
"We will see what we are made of on Sunday against (Cal State) Stanislaus," Ziemer added. "We need to bounce back and show how much we want it.
