SANTA ROSA, CALIF. - On Friday October 29th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team took on Stanislaus State in a CCAA matchup at Trione Field. The match was moved off campus due to the heavy rain Sonoma County received earlier in the week. The Seawolves were fresh off of a 1-0 win over conference rival Chico State the week prior. The win helped salvage the weekend and keep SSU in the hunt for the 6th and final postseason tournament spot as the CCAA regular season comes to a close next week.

At the start of the match, the Warriors implemented some tightly compacted combination play to cause some early troubles for the SSU defense. However, as the game began to loosen up and the Seawolves defense started to create some turnovers, SSU's midfield and front three started to run at the back line of Stanislaus State and create some problems in transition. Lucas English continued to show his versatility in the Seawolves offense as he nearly converted the first goal of the game on a half volley inside the box that was deflected by the Stanislaus keeper up and off the crossbar. Four players for Sonoma State would record two shots or more by the end of the contest. 

As the Seawolves weathered the storm for the better part of the first half and started to see some quality chances develop, they would finally strike first on a goal from midfielder Sean Rohane. With some nice combination play up the left side of the field, Rohane would get played through into the box on the left side by forward Brian Field. There, Rohane would drag the ball to his left foot away from a defender and from a tight angle inside the box, hammer home a left footed strike the was deflected up and into the roof of the goal from the Stanislaus keeper.

Just one minute later, the Seawolves continued the pressure and on a long ball sent over the top from Sean Rohane, transfer defender Jason Hernandez found his way into the box to receive the pass. Hernandez battled with a Warriors defender but ultimately brought the ball down and was able to face up the keeper near the penalty spot. There, he slotted home a right footed shot into the bottom left corner of the goal and extend the lead to 2-0! The Seawolf bench would erupt as that would go down as Hernandez's first career goal as a Seawolf. Head coach Marcus Ziemer and his squad would ride the 2-0 lead into halftime, as they looked to close the game out in the second half to keep their postseason hopes alive. 



The second half would bring similar play from the Warriors as they continued to create some dangerous chances off of their tight combination play. Freshman goalkeeper Reinier ter Riet was solid in goal for Sonoma State as he recorded five saves in the contest. The Seawolves, however, got even more dangerous in transition as they created several goal scoring opportunities to put the game away. The Stanislaus State keeper also made five big saves throughout the game after coming off the bench in the early part of the first half. Midfielders Luis Diaz-Mendoza and Johnnie Dodge each had dangerous chances inside the box in the second half. Dodge on a nice one-on-one move to get past a defender and Mendoza had a leaping header on an early cross on the front post that he would just push wide of the goal. Forward Brian Field led the Seawolves with four total shots on the day and also saw a couple dangerous chances on goal in that second half. 

Stanislaus State would get on the scoreboard in the 79th minute on a shot near the top of the Seawolves 18-yard box. Despite the nail-biting finish, Sonoma State's defense would hang on for the 2-1 win over Stanislaus State. The Seawolves continue to control their own fate as they need to win out in their final two games of the season to have a chance to get into the conference tournament. The full CCAA standings can be found HERE. SSU faces off against Cal State East Bay on Sunday October 31st for their final home game of the season as well as the team's Senior Day. 

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