POMONA, CALIF. - On Sunday, October 16th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team fell to the 14th ranked Broncos of Cal Poly Pomona as they concluded their most difficult road trip of the season. Three first half goals would put the Seawolves to bed early, and two second half red cards would cap off a tough weekend of conference play. 

After some back and forth play to start the game, the Broncos would strike first in the 9th minute on a penalty kick. Ball loss in the middle of the field would launch the counter attack for CPP as they needed just one pass to get into the box and draw the penalty. A long through ball immediately after regaining possession would launch a Bronco forward in on goal. SSU center back Matt Walleigh would recover well and make a challenge to prevent the initial opportunity, but after recovering the ball and making another move, the Broncos forward would draw contact from another Seawolves defender and go down to earn the penalty. 

Head coach Marcus Ziemer and his squad would battle for the next 30 minutes and maintain their one goal deficit, but Cal Poly Pomona would sneak two goals in the final 10 minutes to take a commanding 3-0 lead into the half. In the 35th minute, the Seawolves defense would clear a ball off a throw-in but the ball would get sent back into their half to keep the attack alive. SSU's keeper would get caught high off his line and a quick shot attempt from outside the box would be lofted perfectly over his head, shocking the Seawolves defense and doubling the lead for CPP. 

Just five minutes later, the Broncos would tack on a third goal off some nice combination play. Their forward would find a whole between Sonoma State's center backs and get played in on goal, tapping the ball around the keeper and sending it in the back of the net to cap off a three goal first half. 

Despite back-to-back losses on the weekend, second year goalkeeper Reinier ter Riet had a career day between the posts. ter Riet finished the day with a career high 8 saves and faced a career high 18 shots. Seniors Matt Walleigh and Sean Rohane gutted out 90 minute performances despite being down two players for large parts of the second half. Playing in one of the most competitive men's soccer conferences in all of Division II, the Seawolves will turn the page and return home next weekend as they'll need to grab some wins down the final stretch of the regular season to earn a spot in the conference tournament. 

Sonoma State falls to 5-7-3 overall and 2-5-1 in CCAA play. The Seawolves will play their final three regular season games at home, starting with next Friday against Cal State San Bernardino. Kickoff is slated for 12:30 PM at Seawolf Soccer Field, live stats and ticket links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and the game can also be streamed live on the CCAA Network. 

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