SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. - On Thursday November 4th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team traveled down to the city to take on SF State in their final match of the regular season. After suffering a 2-1 overtime defeat to Humboldt State on October 22nd, the Seawolves only held one win in conference play and had a long hill to climb to have a shot at making the CCAA Tournament. The hill was officially conquered today as the Seawolves overcame the odds and won their fourth straight game beating SF State 2-0 to jump all the way up to the 5th spot in the league standings.

It was a muddy and wet Thursday morning at Cox Stadium where both teams would have to battle the elements and compete in the final regular season match of 2021. The Seawolves previously defeated SF State in their last non-conference match earlier this season 2-0 but knew that this game would be so much different with so much on the line and it being senior day for the Gators. The first 15 minutes of action saw some back and forth play as both teams got used to the playing surface and bounce of the ball. Freshman keeper Reinier ter Riet would make a terrific diving save to his left off of an SF State free kick from the left side of the box early in the half to help weather the storm and keep the game scoreless.   

After both teams exchanged a couple of half chances, head coach Marcus Ziemer and his squad would settle in as they started to take control of the game by dominating in ball possession. Midfielders Sean Rohane and Luis Diaz-Mendoza helped create some dangerous chances in the first half but the game would remain tied at zero going into halftime. 

Sonoma State started to control possession but needed to take the next step and become more dangerous in front of goal in the second half in order to take control of the game and have a chance at getting the win. That's exactly what happened at the start of the half as just under ten minutes in, captain Sean Rohane would put away his 7th goal of the year on a splendid first time strike in the box through the keepers legs. Midfielder Bryan Rosales would come off the bench and provide monumental minutes as he had his way with the Gators midfielders. Rosales drove the ball forward in transition where he found Brian Field wide to the left of the 18-yard box. With Rosales taking away the far side defender, Field played a first time ball across the 18-yard box to the weak side attacker in Sean Rohane. Rohane would step into the box and take the left-footed shot first time to send it past the keeper. The Seawolves bench erupted as Rohane sprinted to SSU's side to celebrate with the rest of the team.

The momentum really started to shift after the first goal as chances continued to develop for the Seawolf attackers. SSU would go on to outshoot SF State 7-4 in the second half. With sophomore defender Miles Hodgson out of the contest due to an accumulation of yellow cards, sophomore midfielder Johnnie Dodge would show his versatility and drop into the left back position. Dodge would play all 90-minutes for the Seawolves and be a part of a steady back line along with Ian Reis, Matt Walleigh, and Jason Hernandez.

As the game progressed into the final 20 minutes, the Seawolves could sense the victory and CCAA Tournament birth. Midfielder Bryan Rosales would help make that birth a reality as he would net his first goal of the 2021 season in the 76th minute to extend SSU's lead to 2-0. Sonoma State's fast attacking offense would strike yet again in transition as Brian Field would collect a long ball on the left side of the box where he would lay it off to the trailer in Rosales. There, Rosales would cut inside on his right and hit a beautiful curling strike into the bottom left corner past the Gators keeper. Field would record his second assist of the day and bring his season total to three. Center back Matt Walleigh would also get credit for the hockey assist as he sent the ball forward to Field during the sequence. Once again, Rosales would sprint to the Seawolves sideline and celebrate emphatically with the rest of his team. 

Sonoma State would hold on for the remaining 15 minutes of action and secure the two goal shutout victory. The team win would also complete the season comeback and earn SSU the 5th seed in the CCAA Tournament! Ziemer and his squad will be participating in the conference tournament for the first time since the 2016 season where the Seawolves finished 2nd in the conference tournament and made an appearance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Seawolves outscored their opponents 8-1 in their final four games of the regular season and recorded three shutout's to climb all the way up to the 5th seed after being as low as 8th in the conference standings earlier in the year. 

" This was one of the best games we have played all year, especially considering the field conditions. This was our fourth win in a row and the guys really stepped up as a group. I am proud of the way we bounced back this season after some tough losses early on and to have won four straight games when we needed it most and get into the tournament was definitley something special" (HC, Ziemer).  

Sonoma State will rest up and head down to Southern California this Sunday as they draw the 4th seeded Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills in the first round of the tournament. After the first round, the four remaining teams will travel to Cal State LA where the semi-finals and championship matches will be played. The final CCAA Tournament bracket can be seen below:

Head to sonomaseawolves.com for schedule updates for men's soccer and up to date game times, live stats link, and live stream link for this weekend'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