ROHNERT PARK, CALIF.- After having to wait a few weeks Sonoma State fans finally got the opportunity to cheer on their Seawolves on their home field. Sonoma State Men's Soccer took the pitch against the Saints of St. Martins University after opening their season up in the Pacific Northwest. It took a bit of time for the team to get on the scoreboard but after striking first the Seawolves opened the floodgates.
Through the first 37 minutes the Seawolves posted six shots highlighting the teams aggressive approach to the matchup. Despite being unable to convert the momentum was clearly in favor of coach Ziemer's squad. Finally with seven minutes remaining on the clock Michael Gray broke down the defense thanks to some outstanding passing from Caleb Yoon and Christian Alvarado. Unfortunately, the Saints responded almost immediately with a goal coming 23 seconds later. While questions were raised about the Saints having been offside the team maintained their composure and their captain Cypress Navarro-Acio responded. With the clock showing 41:45 he rose up, for an impressive header that found the back of the net. Once again Christian Alvarado set up his teammate with another beautiful ball into the box.
It was clear heading into the half that the Seawolves were riding high but looked to maintain the intensity during the second half. Thankfully, that is exactly what they did. Jose Rios Lara would strike early in the second half for his second goal of the season. He would find himself facing the Saint's goalie head on but placed the ball into the lower corner pushing the score to 3-1 in favor of the home team. Once again it would be the Petaluma native Chrisitan Alvarado who earned the assists giving him three on the night.
The Seawolves final goal of the evening came off the foot of freshman Alejandro Verdugo. Verdugo was highly aggressive all game long with six total shots with three of them on goal. He missed a relatively easy shot earlier in the second half but made sure to redeem himself with a perfectly lofted ball from outside the box. It was able to sky up and over the goalies reach for the teams fourth and final goal. Caleb Yoon earned his second assist of the game on the play.
Overall it was a thoroughly impressive outing from the team. As a whole they scored four goals, took 20 shots, with nine of them on goal, and starting goalie Jack Chapman added two more saves to his resume on a relatively quiet night thanks to the defense remaining stout all game long.
Sonoma State returns to the pitch on Saturday when they take on Simon Fraser back at Seawolf Soccer Field. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 11:30 am.
