ROHNERT PARK.--- The No. 8 Sonoma State Seawolves (7-0-2, 4-0-1 CCAA) came out strong in the second half to key their 2-0 shutout win over the visiting SF State Gators this afternoon at Seawolf Soccer Field. This was the Gators' second straight game against a nationally ranked top ten opponent. SF State (4-4-1, 1-3-1 CCAA) will look to get back on the winning track this Sunday morning at 11:30am, when the Gators travel to Arcata for another CCAA game against Humboldt State.
The Gators controlled the first half as they out-shot their hosts 10-4 and also had five shots on goal compared to Sonoma State's two. SF State came out with a bang in the first 11 minutes of the game as the Gators had four shot attempts including
Arnol Arcetea (Bay Point, California, Mt. Diablo )shot at the 11:25 mark that was saved by Sonoma State's Brook Johnson. The Gators continued their onslaught but Johnson stopped two attempts by
Dylan Glass (Rancho Cucamonga, California, Alta Loma) and one each by
Spencer Schwandt (Napa, California, Viintage)and
Robert Maeda (Beaverton, Oregon, Jesuit) in the final 30 minutes of the first half.
"It was definitely a tale of two different halves this afternoon," said SF State Head Coach Joe Hunter. "We need to put together a whole game, if we want to get back on the winning track." "Sonoma State came out with more pressure in the in the second half and it showed with a 2-0 win," added Hunter.
It was a totally different half in the second half as Sonoma State out-shot its visitors 17-1 including 5-0 in shot on goal attempts. Taylor Jones started the second half for the Seawolves as he had two shot attempts in the first two minutes including one that was stopped by the Gators'
Eric Scolman (Oceanside, California, Oceanside). The Gators' only shot attempt came in the 53
rd minute, when Manny
Manny Murillo (Norwalk, California, John Glenn) attempt hit the cross bar.
David Holleran scored the game's first goal in the 60th minute as he connected on a ball from Casey Bernard from 10-yards out to give Sonoma State a 1-0 lead. With a little over six minutes left in the match, Jones sealed the game for the Seawolves connecting on a ball from Trevor Hearst and Casey Dayton to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
In his first start in goal for the Gators,
Eric Scolman recorded five saves for SF State while Johnson had five saves for the Seawolves.