SAN MARCOS, CALIF. - On Friday October 8th, the 13th ranked Sonoma State Seawolves headed to Southern California to face off against the Cougars of Cal State San Marcos. The Cougars would prove to be a tough road test for SSU as they came in with a 4-0-2 record with quality wins against fellow conference opponents Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State San Bernardino in preseason action. San Marcos started off CCAA play with back-to-back ties on the road against Humboldt and Chico State the weekend prior. 

Head coach Emiria Salzmann and her squad entered the game with an impressive 7-1-0 record helping them earn a 13th national ranking in all of division II. The Seawolves recorded quality wins against Azusa Pacific, Cal State LA, and a late overtime win against Cal Poly Pomona last weekend. SSU came into the contest 2-0-0 in CCAA play. 

After 45 minutes of action the game would head into halftime 0-0. Despite the tied score, SSU seemed to have control of most of the first half as they outpaced San Marcos in total shots, shots on goal, and corner kicks. Six different Seawolves recorded a shot in the first half as they continued to apply the pressure to San Marcos. Freshman Phoebe Barnes would return in goal for Sonoma State and record two saves in the first half. 

Despite the tough defensive effort from the Cougars in the first half, the Seawolves would continue their pressure and grab the first goal of the game on a beautiful right footed strike in the box from midfielder Renee Ketner just two minutes into the second half! Off of a throw-in in the Cougars end third, forward Aly Silva would receive a target pass where her and the defender would challenge for the ball only to have it roll past both of them. Freshman Renee Ketner was running off of Silva and was able to outpace the Cougar defense to collect the loose ball in the box and then cut to her right inside of the 18-yard box and slot home a right footed finish. The goal would go down as Ketner's third of the season as she would help break the tie for the Seawolves in the 47th minute. 

Almost ten minutes later, the Seawolves would double their lead and gain a nice cushion with a great team goal finished off by freshman Malia Falk. Falk would also record her third goal on the season with the second goal of the game in the 65th minute. After controlling possession near midfield, outside back Ashley Frye would make a terrific individual move to beat her defender and drive into the Cougars defensive third. She would then lay off a pass for forward Aly Silva down the right side where Silva would play a laser back pass hovering just above the ground into the feet of Malia Falk. Falk, with a defender on her back, would collect and turn with the ball onto her left foot where she would calmly slot the ball into the bottom right corner to double the Seawolves lead.

With just over 20 minutes left in the game, Salzmann and her group would hold on to the win and the clean sheet to improve to 8-1-0 and 3-0-0 in CCAA play. SSU would finish the game outshooting San Marcos 14-4 with 9 of those shots on goal. The Seawolves will remain in Southern California for the weekend and face off against Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday at 11:30 am. All games can be streamed on the CCAA Network.       

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