ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday October 3rd, the Sonoma State men's soccer team faced off against Cal State LA looking to end the weekend on a high note after a hard fought tie to Cal Poly Pomona on Friday to start the weekend. Cal State LA has been near the top of the CCAA for the last several years as they most recently came off of a deep NCAA Tournament run during the 2019 season. The Seawolves have recorded impressive wins this season against Western Washington and fellow CCAA member SF State and had great chances to win against Cal Poly Pomona making this an exciting matchup to conclude the weekend. 

At the start of the match, both teams seemed to feel each other out as they tried to solve the action going forward. Hard tackles and a fast pace of play was the headline for the half and a good majority of the game. Reinier ter Riet would make his fifth appearance and his fourth start for the Seawolves as Matt Walleigh and Ian Reis bolstered the backline for the Seawolves. After 45-minutes of action, SSU tallied just four shots but held LA to only two. The game had extra time written all over it from the start with two stout defenses. 

As the game opened up in the second half due to the second game on the weekend and the afternoon heat, both teams combined for nearly 10 shots as both had chances on goal. The Cal State LA keeper would keep the Golden Eagles in the match with four saves of his own while SSU's Reinier ter Riet recorded a game high five saves. The Seawolves had a consistent rotation through the second half as freshman Evan Sadler provided productive minutes off the bench as well as Matt Lee who made his first appearance since St. Martins due to a family matter. Lee was dangerous in his 54 minutes of action as he had one shot on goal and created problems one on one for the LA defense. 

Freshman center back Lucas English would come off the bench to provide some relief for Matt Walleigh later in the game and his energy and aggressiveness would show in his 77 minutes of action. Luis Diaz-Mendoza led the Seawolves with three shots in the game, all three would hit the target but nothing past the LA keeper. Midfielders Johnnie Dodge and Bryan Rosales would also step up big for the Seawolves playing heavy minutes and multiple positions after Timmy Phillips went down with an injury earlier in the match. Both Dodge and Rosales helped control the pace of the game and were relentless defensivley helping to win the ball back and start the attack all game long. 

After 90-minutes of action and both teams running on empty in the second game of the weekend, we would head to overtime for a possible winner with golden goal. This would be the Seawolves second overtime game in the past three days so despite the heavy legs, they were still poised for the moment and looked to get a chance and take advantage.

After a relatively quiet first overtime period from both teams, we would head into the second 10-minute overtime period as both teams looked for a chance to win the game. Arguably the play of the match would come in the 103rd minute as SSU committed a foul near the top of the box setting up LA for a quality chance on goal just within 25 yards. With the wall set to the right covering the bottom right corner, the LA midfielder would strike the ball with his right and attempt to pull it into the top left corner. Despite a quality strike, Seawolf keeper Reinier ter Riet would make a leaping save up and to his right pushing the ball just over the bar to keep the game tied and extend the overtime period. The save of the season so far, Riet would help to motivate the SSU squad to make one final push before the end of overtime. 

Down the field came the Seawolves as Matt Lee was being dynamic and dangerous with runs in behind and crafty one on one play. After a cleared cross from the Golden Eagles, the Seawolves would win the 50/50 ball and slip Matt Lee in the pocket of the LA defense where he would turn and have a run at goal from the right side of the box. Attacking the defender one on one, Lee dips the shoulder and then cuts the ball back to his right in the box where contact appeared to be made with the LA defender but nothing was given from the center referee. Despite the uproar from the fans and the Seawolf bench, play would continue and the Golden Eagles would come back down the field on the counter and get another chance.  

A questionable foul call would be given by the referee in a similar spot where Riet made his incredible save just minutes prior. Unfortunately, LA was able to take advantage of the second opportunity and their forward would curl the ball around SSU's wall and drill the upper right corner of the net to win the game in the 110th minute. Heartbreak for the Seawolves after back-to-back overtime games, head coach Marcus Ziemer and his squad would end the weekend 0-1-1.

A thrilling and wild weekend is only just the start for the Seawolves as they still have five more weeks of CCAA play to climb the conference standings. SSU falls to 4-4-1 on the year and head down south to Cal State San Marcos next week tot ake on the Cougars on Friday October 8th. You can stream all of the Seawolves matches this season live on the CCAA Network.           

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