BURNABY, BC - On Thursday, September 7th, the Sonoma State men's soccer team headed north to Burnaby, Canada for the first time since 2014 to take on Saint Martin's in a neutral site matchup. The Seawolves will remain in Canada through the weekend and take on Simon Fraser on Saturday.
FIRST HALF SSU 1-2 SAINT MARTIN'S
SSU got off to a blistering start as sophomore winger
Jvon Cunningham scored his first goal of the season in the opening minute. Cunningham would pick off an errant pass from a Saints defender and play a beautiful one-two with forward
Oliver Ziemer. Ziemer's return pass would put Cunningham straight into the box and allow him to poke the one time shot past the keeper for the quick 1-0 lead. That would go down as Ziemer's team leading second assist of the season.
Saint Martin's would answer with back-to-back goals though in the 20th and 23rd minute to take a momentous 2-1 lead. Both goals would come off set pieces from the left side of the box, one a first time flick off the cross and the other a straight shot from over 30 yards out. The Saints would hold onto that lead at the break despite being out-shot 9-4 by SSU.
FINAL SSU 1-3 SAINT MARTIN'S
Sonoma State would continue their pressure in the second half, recording a season high 10 shots in the half and 19 shots for the game. However, in the 71st minute Saint Martin's would catch the Seawolves in transition off of a set piece. SSU would clear the initial delivery but a Saints defender would win the ensuing 50/50 challenge and play his winger into the box down the left side. After a series of dribbles a firm cut back pass would find a Saints attacker at the top of the box as he would finish the one timer into the bottom corner.
SSU would get their best chance of the half in the 12th minute off of a corner kick. Midfielder
Jose Rios Lara would swing in a dangerous ball from the right corner. The initial header challenge would deflect the ball to the near post where center back
Johnny Granick would have a one time shot off the volley. The Saints keeper would make a great reaction save inside the six yard box before a neighboring defender could clear the ball out for another corner.
Saint Martin's would fend off Sonoma State's offense for the final ten minutes and take the 3-1 victory. Head coach
Marcus Ziemer would use all of his bench in the game as 23 players would appear in the match for SSU.
Johnny Granick and
Evan Sadler would make their first appearances of the season while
Diego Yang,
Barry Cahalane and goalkeeper
Jack Chapman would record their second appearances. Chapman played all of the second half and recorded a season high three saves.
LOOKING AHEAD
Sonoma State falls to 0-2-1 on the year as they start their Canada road trip with a 3-1 loss to Saint Martin's. They will conclude the weekend this Saturday at 6:00 PM against Simon Fraser. Live stats and ticket links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com.
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