SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State men's soccer team notched its tenth win of the season with a convincing 7-1 victory over Humboldt State on Wednesday in CCAA action.
"Today the team performed well again. We're looking pretty sharp here at the end of the season and we hope that we can continue to play an aggressive style and go on goal and finish our chances," said San Francisco State Head Coach
Javier Ayala-Hil. "Players in the back line, through the midfield, and up top have all been playing pretty well and we just have to keep the momentum going on Saturday against Sonoma State."
The Gators (10-4-2/5-4-2 CCAA) gave up a goal in the 17th minute by Ethan Waters and responded with seven unanswered goals. Surprisingly, the seven goals were just the seventh-most in a single match by the Gators in program history.
One minute, eight seconds after the Lumberjacks (8-7-0/5-6-0 CCAA) took the lead, the Gators countered.
Sam Gebremiche passed the ball down to
Andy Altamirano, who crossed the ball in from the right side and freshman
Feliciano Cardenas headed in his first collegiate goal to the near post.
In the 34th minute, SF State took the lead for good. Senior
Ranier Plantinos' free kick from above the top of the box on the right side sliced to the left.
Aydan Bowers got a head on it and the ball went up in the air to
Tariq Pulskamp, who followed with the header for his fifth goal of the year.
Freshman
Clayton Sato added an insurance goal with less than a minute to go before halftime when
Jonny Villeda passed back and shielded a defender.
Plantinos' unassisted golasso from the left side in the 56th minute was the senior's 12th of the season. That moves him into a tie for second-most in a season in program history with Paul Mangini (1982) and Jose Lopez (1994). He is one goal away from tying the mark set by Pete Mangini in 1980.
Daniel Herrera netted his second goal of the season off the assist from
KJ Ahlo in the 72nd minute. The Lumberjacks' frustration was apparent when a red card was issued in the 74th minute. That gave the Gators a man-up advantage and
Maximiliano Maciel capitalized with a pair of goals, his first two of the season, in the next five minutes that stretched the lead to 7-1.
The win gives the Gators 1.55 points per match, which moves them into fifth place for the time being. The Gators host Sonoma State on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 11:30 a.m. That is also Senior Day for the Gators. The team's seniors —
KJ Ahlo,
Andy Altamirano,
Sam Gebremiche,
Ranier Plantinos,
Jesse Rodriguez,
Nigus Solomon, and
Jonny Villeda – will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Live video and stats will be available at
sfstategators.com. In-game updates and highlights will be available on Twitter at
@sfstate_msoc.
