ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Sunday, October 23rd, the Sonoma State men's soccer team pulled out a huge 2-0 victory in a gritty performance over Cal State San Marcos. The Seawolves come away with six points on the weekend and two shutouts, putting themselves in the driver seat to control their own fate in the regular season finale next week.
SSU only allowed two shots in the first half but the Cougars offense was putting together quality possession in the Seawolves end. After connecting some passes and settling down offensively, senior forward
Oliver Ziemer would get a ball played in the air and take a hit from the defender to draw the foul just a few yards outside the penalty box. Senior captain
Sean Rohane would step up in prime position to have a shot and after the whistle blew, Rohane would hammer a low shot into the far right hand corner to erupt the Seawolf crowd and give SSU a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute. Rohane would grab his second goal of the season and big one at that as the Seawolves continue to fight for a conference tournament spot. (Fist goal below)
Just a few minutes after the opening goal, the game would turn sideways as hard tackles started to pile up from both teams and eventually, Cal State San Marcos would be given a red card in the 38th minute for a hard slide tackle on the bench side. A heated exchange from both teams would result in the red card and two additional yellow cards before play would resume.
Second year player out of Sacramento,
Lucas English, would step in and make his 12th start of the season with the Seawolves staff continuing to shorten. English alongside Santa Rosa native
Bryan Rosales would hold down the midfield and really cause problems in the second half with some tight combination play. SSU would tally five shots and hold their one goal advantage at the half while also playing up a man as they looked to close it out in the final 45 minutes.
Shots and scoring opportunities came in bunches for SSU in the second half with the man advantage but failing to complete the final pass resulted in some half chances and a scoreless start to the second half. The Cougars would string together some dangerous chances on some deep crosses and in-swinging balls but the Seawolves defense held strong as they allowed just three shots in the half.
The nail in the coffin would finally come for SSU in the 89th minute as freshman winger
Michael Gray would record his second goal of the season on a snap-shot from inside the box. Sonoma State was in game killing mode as they were stringing together great tight combination passes, just simply trying to keep possession and drown out the clock.
After some lovely tiki-tak soccer between midfielders
Bryan Rosales and
Sean Rohane, Rohane would open up and ping a diagonal ball out to the right wing where Gray was left one-on-one just outside the box. Gray would hesitate and then drive hard to his right and let go a low bullet that surprised the keeper and found the side netting, giving the Seawolves a 2-0 lead and putting the game to bed. (Second goal below)
It would turn out to be a picture perfect weekend for head coach
Marcus Ziemer and his squad as they secured six points and back-to-back shutouts in a must-win scenario. On top of that, today marked the 20th anniversary of the 2002 NCAA National Championship team.
Marcus Ziemer and the SSU athletics department were able to honor and recognize nearly 20 members from the championship team who were in attendance for today's game as well as unveil a championship banner on the field.
Members of the 2002 National Championship Team
With some other crazy results around the CCAA, Sonoma State will control their own fate in the regular season finale next Thursday as they need a win or a tie to secure their spot in the conference tournament. The Seawolves are no strangers to this position as they had to win their final four games of the regular season last year to secure a postseason spot as well.
Sonoma State improves to 7-7-3 overall and 4-5-1 in CCAA play. The Seawolves will take on San Francisco State next Thursday, October 27th at 2:00 PM in the regular season finale and senior day. Live stats and ticket links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and the game can also be streamed live on the CCAA Network.
Be sure to follow your Seawolves on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get all the latest SSU athletics updates and information. Sonoma State athletics also has launched a new fan app in partnership with From Now On. Download the free app today in both the Apple and Google Play stores by searching Sonoma State Seawolves in the app store. @SonomaSeawolves | #NomaNation
