BOX SCORE Sonoma State 4, Cal State Monterey Bay 3 -- Box Score

SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Sonoma State soccer team fell behind by two goals in the early going, but thanks to two goals and an assist by Aaron Glover and two goals from Taylor Varnadore, the Seawolves were able to escape with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday in Seaside.  The win boosts the Seawolves' record to 2-1-0, 1-0-0 CCAA on the season while the Otters drop to 1-1-0, 0-1-0 CCAA.

The Otters, hoping to snap a four-game losing streak to Sonoma State, came out strong, scoring in the ninth minute and then again in the 11th.

"This was a tough game," said Marcus Ziemer after the victory.  "We almost had a couple of goals early, but didn't get the right bounces.  Monterey Bay did a good job converting and all of a sudden we were down 2-0."

In a hole, but with plenty of time to mount a comeback, the Seawolves turned to Varnadore, their leading goal scorer in each of the past two seasons.  The junior from Sebastopol would not disappoint as, in the 19th minute, he beat the goalkeeper to a through ball from Glover and touched the net to cut the lead in half.

Just under four minutes later it would be Glover's turn.  The junior received a feed from Michel Arroyo and tapped it in from the far post to knot the game at two. 

With momentum firmly on the Sonoma side, they took their first lead in the 35th minute, an another goal from Varnadore.  This time, he took a long cross from Cory Taufer and, with a nifty move in the box, booted it past the keeper.  It was the 25th goal of Varnadore's career, tying him with Christopher Ziemer for ninth on the all-time list. 

"We showed a lot of character to come back after getting down so early," commented Ziemer.  "That last goal of the first half was a big one."

Shortly after the intermission, Cal State Monterey proved that they while they might be down after giving up three straight goals, they certainly were not out.  George Plakorus was the goal scorer this time as he slotted one in from the upper corner of the box.

Said Ziemer, "Cal State Monterey Bay is a much-improved team.  They fought very hard and are going to beat a lot of teams this year."

The teams stayed deadlocked at 3-3 until the game-winner was found with just four minutes to go.  Again it was Glover who took a deflection on the right wing and buried it in the net.  Glover's two-goal outburst doubled his career account. 

"This was really a great win," said Ziemer.  "Now we need to re-group and prepare for a fresh Cal State East Bay team on Sunday."  The Pioneers would have played Humboldt State on Friday, but the Lumberjacks canceled their season.  As a result, teams that would have to prepare for two teams in a week now have the opportunity to focus on just Sonoma State. 

Said Ziemer, "We showed a lot of grit and a lot of character.  We'll need to continue to play this way if we hope reach our goals."