ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday October 31st, the Sonoma State men's soccer team battled bay area opponent Cal State East Bay in the Seawolves final home match of the 2021 season. The Seawolves also recognized their 2021 seniors pregame as head coach Marcus Ziemer and the program would honor six seniors on the day. Sonoma State athletics thanks goalkeepers Derik Engebretsen and Jairo Villalobos, midfielders Sean Rohane and Luis Diaz-Mendoza, and forwards Sebastian

Bernal-Santos and Brian Field for their commitment and dedication to the men's soccer program as they will always be a part of the Seawolf family. With kickoff about to start, the Seawolves still remained in the hunt for the sixth and final spot in the postseason conference tournament. Despite a difficult start to the regular season facing off against the top teams in the conference, SSU has found a groove down the stretch as they came into the match on a two-game win streak, defeating rival Chico State and then Stanislaus State earlier this weekend to stay alive. The Seawolves would need a win today and some help from other teams in the conference to remain in the hunt and give themselves a shot in the season finale against SF State the following week. 


At the start of the game, SSU weathered the storm early as Cal State East Bay saw some good spurts of possession. However, the Pioneers were vulnerable on the counter and in transition with heavy numbers committed forward on free kicks and corners. In the 14th minute, that weakness would show as the Seawolves launched forward on a counter attack after successfully defending a short corner from the Pioneers. Midfielder Timmy Phillips would come out after the initial clearance from the Seawolves back line and he would block the second cross attempt causing the ball to ricochet up to the left side and near midfield. There, forward Sebastian-Bernal Santos would pickup the ball and the counter was on. Phillips alongside teammates Luis Diaz-Mendoza and Sean Rohane busted down the field to stretch the remaining Pioneer defenders. As Phillips found a seam down the middle part of the field, Santos would play a beautiful left-footed through ball pass his defender sending Phillips onto goal. Phillips took a solid first touch forward as he approached the 18-yard box but with trailing defenders catching up, he elected to take the early left-footed shot just outside the penalty box. The early shot would catch the East Bay keeper off guard and out of position and Phillips was able to hit a floated line drive over the keeper and into the top right corner of the net to take the early 1-0 lead for SSU! 

The bench and crowd would erupt as a reaction to the stunning goal as Phillips would net his second goal of the season and head to the far corner to celebrate with his

teammates. The game would settle down a bit after the goal and the Seawolves would enter the half leading the game by the one goal. Head coach Marcus Ziemer and his staff were well aware that they needed more goals to put the game to bed and it would be far from over. "I give a lot of credit to Cal State East Bay and their squad. They have had a tough season but they never stop fighting and made it difficult on us throughout the game. It says a lot about their culture and pride as a program" (HC, Ziemer). 

Just under ten minutes into the second half, the Seawolves would do exactly what they needed to do and that was to come out and score an early goal to help seize control of the game. That goal scorer would be yet again, junior Timmy Phillips! After a long ball sent forward from the Seawolves midfield and a scuffle around the left side of the box, Sebastian Bernal-Santos would collect and settle the ball just outside the box, and then find the checking Phillips with a defender on his back. Phillips would hold the defender off and turn inside where he would then open up his hip and slot a wonderful right-footed shot into the right side-netting. The multi-goal game would be Phillips's first of his career and his goal total would jump to three on the year. Despite just his one goal, Santos continues to impact the game in other ways as he picks up his 7th assist on the season, good for second most on the team. 

Cal State East Bay would continue to fight yet again as the game became more of a stale mate as the second half continued. The intensity was high and the two goal lead was still uncomfortable for Ziemer and his group. As SSU's back line continued to play tough and keep the play in front of them, Brian Field would add the exclamation point in the contest with a beautiful flick header off of an SSU corner kick. Matt Lee would get the assist for the third and final goal of the game and Brian Field would add to his goal total once again as he reclaims the team lead with 7 on the year. The Seawolves went on to outshoot East Bay 12-4 in the second half as they continued to show their danger on the counter and in transition late in games. 

Freshman keeper Reinier ter Riet would record his third shutout on the season and finish with four saves in the contest. The Seawolves back line was excellent again in today's match winning numerous 50/50 challenges and keeping the Pioneers offense in front of them. "Our defense was very solid on both side of the ball/ We defended well but were also great in buildup and initiating the attack" (HC, Ziemer). Junior defender Matt Walleigh was terrific in one on one situations and his closing speed helped limit the Pioneers offense on long balls over the top. He also got in on the attack on a couple occasions as he recorded two shots on goal forcing excellent saves from the East Bay keeper. 

Defenders Matt Walleigh and Jason Hernandez were the only two Seawolf field players to play all 90 minutes in the match as well. Sonoma State improves to 8-8-1 overall and 4-5-1 in CCAA play. With losses from Chico State and Humboldt State on the same day, the Seawolves can now win against SF State next week and clinch a spot in the conference tournament. "That was a great win for us. These last few games have basically been playoff games since we need to win in order to stay alive. With today's victory and some help from Humboldt and Chico, we now control our own destiny and can get into the tournament with a win over SF State" (HC, Ziemer).

"Timmy stepped up big today for us. He scored two great goals and showed a lot of composure in front of net. It was also great to get Brian Field another goal after having some good chances against Stanisluas State earlier in the weekend" (HC, Ziemer). 

Sonoma State will conclude the 2021 CCAA regular season on the road on Thursday, November 4th against bay area rival SF State. A win and the Seawolves are in will be the motto for the week leading up to the conference finale. Head to sonomaseawolves.com for the live stats and live streaming links for next week's game. Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. @SonomaSeawolves #NomaNation     

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