SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. - On Friday, November 4th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team's heroic run in the 2022 CCAA Tournament came to an end as they fell 2-1 to the 7th ranked team in the nation in Cal State LA. With Cal State San Bernardino playing host to this year's men's soccer tournament, SSU went toe-to-toe with the defending national champions and after going down a goal within the first 10 minutes of the game, Sonoma State would equalize just before the half and give themselves a shot at advancing to the tournament championship match. However, in the 58th minutes, the Golden Eagles would strike early once again in what would prove to be the game winning goal, as the Seawolves ultimately fell 2-1, ending their 2022 season.
Just 10 minutes in Cal State LA would show their quick-striking ability as a clipped ball up the right side from SSU's back line would turn the ball over to the Golden Eagles. Three consecutive passes would put LA in the Seawolves box with a dangerous chance just inside the 18. SSU defender
Elliot Stanley would do well to defend the initial shot and force the LA forward to turn out and drive to the end line. He would then clip a lovely cut back ball just outside the back side of the six yard box and a first-time shot would find the bottom corner and in what felt like a blink of an eye, the defending national champs would put themselves up 1-0 just inside the 10-minute mark.
Rallying together with a few shots on goal and some quality minutes from their bench, Sonoma State would continue to compete and be rewarded with a goal 30th minute to find themselves level going into the half. Senior midfielder
Bryan Rosales continued to make his impact felt as he did all season long as he would pick the ball from the Cal State LA defender and find himself with a breakaway opportunity just inside the Golden Eagles half. A slight tug from the defender would bring down Rosales and force the referee to give a yellow card with a potential goal scoring opportunity.
The Seawolves would take advantage of the free kick opportunity as center back
Federico Barbieri would play a teasing ball into the right half of the penalty box. After a contested header with freshman winger
Patrick Neill, the ball would come back across the box near the penalty spot and junior forward
Oliver Ziemer would take down a high bouncing ball with a soft first touch and then take a quick strike off the volley and send it into the back of the net to knot the game at one. Ziemer would emphatically score his first goal of the season in the biggest moment possible and ignite the Seawolf bench going into the half tied up with the 7th ranked team in the nation.
The contest would not stayed tied for long though as in the 58th minute, Cal State LA would strike again in quick fashion off of a long ball sent forward from their back line. A ball lofted high in the air would be touched down beautifully from the Golden Eagles forward to a teammate out on the right wing. He would then drive across the field with numbers forward and Sonoma State caught out a bit defensively. After dribbling to the top of the box the LA midfielder would play a wonderful through ball back across the grain and a dummy from a Golden Eagles player would allow the ball to trickle into the box and sit up nicely for the trailing forward. A first time shot with Seawolves keeper
Reinier ter Riet would coming out would sneak underneath and roll into the back of the net to give LA the 2-1 advantage.
Sonoma State would record four shots in the second half and force a couple saves from the CCAA goalkeeper of the year, but fail to convert another equalizer as the Golden Eagles would hang on for the 2-1 victory and advance to the conference tournament championship game. "The result didn't go our way but I am incredibly proud of our boys. We played hard and got ourselves back in the game early on with a great goal from Olly" aid head coach
Marcus Ziemer.
"Cal State LA is obviously a very good team but it was back and forth for a lot of the second half and we though we had a chance until the very end. It's always tough to have your season end especially for our seniors. They left the program better then when they arrived and have had a great impact on all of us. We will take the momentum with back-to-back conference tournament appearances and continue to build for next year" (Ziemer).
Bryan Rosales and
Oliver Ziemer combined for four shots in the contest while defenders
Matt Walleigh and
Elliot Stanley each recorded 90-minute matches for the Seawolves. Second year keeper
Reinier ter Riet had another terrific game as he finished with a game high 8 saves and put himself on the map as one of the best shot-stoppers in the entire conference. He finished the season with a career high 94 saves, good for the conference lead after two additional games in the conference tournament. Congratulations to the Sonoma State men's soccer team on a fantastic year and a first round upset over Cal Poly Pomona last weekend. We would also like to congratulate our 2022 seniors one on their SSU careers.
Head coach
Marcus Ziemer and his squad finish the year with an overall record of 7-8-5 and finished in 6th place in the CCAA regular season standings to qualify for their second straight conference tournament. 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
