ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Thursday, October 12th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team faced off against CCAA rival Chico State in one of the most competitive and intense matchups in recent history. The Wildcats came into Seawolf Soccer Field ranked third in the country, the highest ranking in the rivalry's history. A Seawolves red card in the 59th minute would throw the game on its head as Chico was able to escape late with a goal in the 80th minute to secure the 1-0 victory.
Despite being outshot 7-1 in the first half, Sonoma State would match Chico with six shots in the second half and put together a great chance on goal in the 85th minute to nearly tie the match.
Alejandro Zarate led SSU with three shots in his 45 minutes of action and
Oswaldo Rojas would add a pair of shots in his 52 minutes. Keeper
Reinier ter Riet would finish with a game high five saves, giving him 17 total saves in his last three games combined.
FIRST HALF SSU 0-0 CHICO
The stands were packed and the energy was high in Seawolf Soccer Field with the third ranked team in the nation in town. Chico State applied some early pressure and showed their threat in the air but center backs
Ian Reis and
Lucas English held down the fort with a slew of clearances.
Reinier ter Riet made his presence felt early on, stopping a header chance off a Wildcats corner kick in the 9th minute. In the 19th minute, the Seawolves would see their clearest chance on goal of the first half with a shot from distance from
Alejandro Zarate. Zarate would sit in a nice pocket above Chico's backline and
Lucas English would rifle a pass into his feet, allowing him to turn and have a shot from roughly 25 yards out. The attempt would threaten the Wildcats keeper but dip just over the bar and out for a goal kick.
FINAL SSU 0-1 CHICO
Just ten minutes into the second half, the Seawolves would generate another quality chance, this one coming inside the box from freshman forward
Diego Angelina De La Cruz. In the run of play, fellow freshman
Caleb Yoon and Cruz would double team a Wildcats defender and force a turnover deep in their end. Yoon would slip Cruz in down the right side of the box and Cruz would fire a shot from a tight angle that would just roll wide of the far post and out for a Chico goal kick.
Just a few minutes later, the game would take a turn for the worse as Sonoma State midfielder
Graysen Garber would be given a red card for an aggressive slide tackle on a Wildcats forward. The questionable call would leave the Seawolves down a man with nearly 30 minutes remaining in regulation. Head coach
Marcus Ziemer and his squad would weather the storm quite well, only allowing two shots in the next 20 minutes. The Wildcats would finally break through in the 80th minute off of a rebound inside the Seawolves box.
Chico would regain possession after a cross attempt by Sonoma State and then play their winger down the right side to start the attack. He would have a shot attempt just outside the right corner of the box that
Ian Reis would block but the ball would deflect downward into the box and find the feet of a trailing Wildcats forward. He would have a shot on the half volley that was headed towards the bottom left corner.
Lucas English would collide with ter Riet on the save attempt and the ball would trickle into the back of the net.
The Seawolves defense was heartbroken in the moment but they would continue to fight and put together another dangerous attempt on goal in the final minutes of regulation. In the 85th minute,
Patrick Neill would take his defender one-on-one down the left side of the box and play a teasing early cross behind the Wildcats backline.
Diego Angelina De La Cruz would get on the end of the cross and have his shot blocked but the rebound fell to Zarate at the top of the six yard box. Zarate struck it well towards the bottom left corner but Chico State's keeper got down quickly to make a necessary save and put it out for a corner.
Chico State would hang on for the dramatic 1-0 win despite a herculean effort from SSU and playing with ten men for the majority of the second half. Defenders
Ian Reis,
Johnnie Dodge and Cleb Yoon would play all 90 minutes and have a huge impact defensively. Midfielders
Patrick Neill,
Jose Rios Lara and
Alejandro Zarate were incredibly dangerous in the second half and were involved in the team's best chance on goal in the 85th minute.
Sonoma State will look to pick up the pieces and go again this Sunday as they remain in the hunt for the postseason. They will hit the road for three straight games and then return home on Friday, October 27th to take on Cal State LA.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Seawolves fall to 4-6-2 overall and 2-3 in conference play in an intense battle with third ranked Chico State. SSU will finish their conference weekend on the road and take on Stanislaus State on Sunday, October 15th at 2:00 PM. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 PM and live stats and ticket links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com. You can also stream the game 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
