BELLINGHAM, WASH. – On Thursday, August 25th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team traveled up north to GNAC rival Western Washington to open their 2022 campaign. Both programs have plenty of history with memorable matchups year after year. After outshooting the Vikings 8-2 in the second half, head coach
Marcus Ziemer and his squad would have to settle for the 0-0 draw and look towards Seattle Pacific on Saturday.
After the Seawolves threatened in the middle portion of the first half, Western Washington would up the energy and test SSU's backline for the majority of the final 15 minutes. Physical play and solid 1v1 tackles from center backs
Matt Walleigh and
Federico Barbieri helped limit the danger and prevent any serious chances in front of goal. The Seawolves second year goalkeeper
Reinier ter Riet was also solid in the first 45 making some big catches and recording two saves.
After a scoreless first half, Sonoma State would flip the pressure and dominate much of the final 45 minutes. Several chances created and an 8-2 shots advantage would highlight the second half for Ziemer and the Seawolves but with nothing to show for it. Both teams would settle for the 0-0 draw in their season openers and look forward to their Saturday opponents to close out the weekend.
"Western Washington is a very good opponent and will certainly do well this season. They took it to us at the end of the first half, but I was really happy with how we responded in the second", said SSU's head coach
Marcus Ziemer. "Our defense was outstanding. Our entire backline was fantastic tonight and they really kept us in the game and allowed us to create some chances in the second half".
The Seawolves would outshoot the Vikings 11-8 in the contest with
Sean Rohane,
Evan Sadler, and
Oliver Ziemer leading the way with two apiece.
Sonoma State will conclude their season opening road trip on Saturday, August 27th against Seattle Pacific. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 PM and tickets, live stream and stat links can all be found at sonomaseawolves.com. 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
