Fraser’s overtime goal gets Hornets a split
October 22, 2002
The Sacramento State men’s soccer team opened up their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play in the state of Colorado this weekend.
The Hornets came into Cadet Stadium with a one-game winning streak, only to leave with a loss, falling to Air Force 1-0. The Hornets defeated Denver 2-1 on Sunday.
Sac State, who lost to Air Force 4-1 last season, played a defensively tight match until Air Force’s Thomas Clark broke the scoreless tie with only three minutes left in regulation.
“It was a heartbreaking way to lose in the final minutes like that,” Hornet head coach Michael Linenberger said.
The Falcons now have a 6-3 series lead over the Hornets since joining Div. I in 1991.
Heading into league play, Sac State was confident about their chances to defend last year’s MPSF championship.
The Hornets were well prepared to defend the crown after tuning up against Div. I powerhouses in the regular season, including No. 7 Loyola Marymount, No. 20 UC Santa Barbara and No.17 Cal State Northridge.
Despite allowing the late goal to Air Force, freshman goalkeeper Matt McDougall had a solid performance, denying the Cadets seven times before the final shot.
Last week McDougall was named MPSF player of the week after his successful 1-0 shutout of the University of San Francisco. McDougall holds the team lead in shutouts with two, and holds a 0.81 goals against average, which leads all conference goalkeepers.
While the defense continues to make strides, the Hornet offense continues to struggle.
The Hornets attempted only three shots on goal compared to seven shots by Air Force.
Sac State showed their resilience by bouncing back from the loss to Air Force and defeating the University of Denver.
The Hornets changed their defensive lineup, putting four defenders in the backfield to counter the fitness of the Pioneers, who are much more adept than the Hornets for playing in high altitude.
Sac State also accounted for the altitude by allowing Denver with room to work in their own half of the field.
The Hornet defense didn’t apply serious pressure until the Pioneers crossed onto the Hornet side of the soccer field.
“They had a couple of scoring opportunities, but we thought our back four played very well,” Linenberger said.
Hjalti Kristjansson, Marcos Mercado, Alexis Maurtua, and Utodi Madu played well enough on defense to hand the Pioneers their fifth-consecutive loss, dropping them to 0-2 in the conference.
The first half ended scoreless, but the Pioneers were the first to strike in the second, when Nic Hartman’s shot got past McDougall and gave Denver the 1-0 advantage.
The Hornets answered back in the 59th minute. Kristjansson found an open David Rios, who swiftly gathered the pass and put it in the Pioneer net.
Rios’ second goal of the season tied the game at 1-1.
McDougall and Denver goalkeeper Brian Lux held both teams at bay for the remaining 32 minutes, forcing the game into overtime.It only took Sac State’s scoring leader David Fraser two minutes to post the game winner in overtime.
He received a ball out of the back from Sean McMahon and was able to beat Lux out in front of the goal for the 2-1 win.
“(Fraser) has probably been our most dangerous players in the last three or four games,” Linenberger said.
Fraser leads the Hornets with 10 points on the year.
Sacramento’s offense broke out of its’ slump, attempting fifteen shots against the Pioneers.
“We put together a good effort,” Linenberger said, “It took mental toughness to come back from being down by one goal.”
The Hornets continue their MPSF championship defense with one last road game before closing out the season with a three-game homestand.
Sacramento travels to Southern California to play the Aztecs of San Diego State on Sunday at 3 p.m.
