ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, September 2nd, the Sonoma State men's soccer team closed out their opening weekend with a non-conference matchup against Seattle Pacific. The Seawolves would battle from two down and convert a late penalty in the second half to cut the deficit to one. After a flurry of chances around the Falcons 18-yard box, SPU would hang on for the 2-1 victory and hand SSU their first loss of the season. Sophomore winger
Patrick Neill would score the penalty for his team leading second goal of the season.
FIRST HALF SSU 0-1 SPU:
After weathering the storm early on, Seattle Pacific would win a 50/50 ball in the middle of the field and go on to string seven passes in a row to slice through the Seawolves defense and slot a shot inside the box into the bottom right corner. The Falcons would take a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the game and go on to outshoot SSU 7-2 in the half. Third year goalkeeper
Reinier ter Riet would make three stops in the half to keep the Seawolves in the game.
FINAL SSU 1-2 SPU:
Seattle Pacific would catch a break and double their lead just three minutes into the second half as they capitalized on a slow pass back to the Sonoma State keeper, allowing their forward to pick the pass and dribble around ter Riet for the open net goal. Despite the defensive mistake, the Seawolves would up the intensity as the half went on and double their shot total from the first 45 minutes.
SSU would see some of their best chances in the game in the final ten minutes as the Falcons needed some key defensive tackles and clearances to keep the Seawolves off the scoreboard. Contributing to the increased intensity in the second half were substitutes
Barry Cahalane and
Diego Yang. The pair of freshmen brought a much needed spark for the Seawolves as Cahalane anchored a center back position and Yang brought some nice combination play into the midfield.
SSU would make the game even more interesting as they finally broke through with a penalty goal in the 89th minute with aggressive play down the left side. Off of a throw-in deep inside SSU territory,
Patrick Neill would collect the ball and drive into the middle of the field and then release fellow winger
Jvon Cunningham out on the left side. With elite speed, Cunningham would get past the SPU defender and cross a dangerous ball into
Michael Gray. Gray's attempt on goal would appear to be blocked but also handled and a penalty would be awarded. Neill would step up and convert the penalty for his second goal of the season, giving SSU life in the final two minutes of regulation.
Several aggressive challenges would occur after play resumed but no whistle would allow play to continue and the time would eventually run out, allowing the Falcons to hang on for the 2-1 victory. 13 yellow cards would be given over the course of the match with 12 of them coming in the second half.
Backup goalkeeper
Jack Chapman would get his first appearance as a Seawolf after redshirting last season. Chapman would play some nice long balls out of the back and also record a save in his 31 minutes of action. Freshmen
Barry Cahalane and
Diego Yang would also make their first appearances of the season, combining for 51 minutes played.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Sonoma State gets handed their first loss of the 2023 season and falls to 0-1-1. They will hit the road for the first time this season and head north to take on GNAC members Saint Martin's and Simon Fraser on September 7th and 9th. Live stats and ticket links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com.
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