The Sacramento State men’s soccer team suffered a 4-1 loss to the Matadors of Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, but salvaged their weekend by playing the Fresno State Bulldogs to a 1-1 tie on Sunday.

The Northridge Matadors bulldozed their way through Hornet Soccer Field, taking advantage of Sac State’s defense and keeping the Hornet offense in check.

“They came out flying, scoring three quick goals, and we had a hard time coming back from it,” Hornet coach Michael Linenberger said.

Northridge’s Alec de Mattos gathered himself and struck the ball into the Hornets goal in the 12th minute giving the Matadors a 1-0 lead that they would never look back from.

Juan Guerrero capitalized on a goal less than a minute later on a pass from Yossi Raz, with the Matadors racing to a 2-0 lead. Charles Mitchell later scored the final two goals for the Matadors.

David Rios scored the Hornets single goal when Brent Hamilton rewarded Rios with a 40-yard pass that Rios calmly headed into the net.

For Rios it was his first goal of the season.

The Hornets have continued to have a problem of playing two solid halves of soccer.

“We dominated the second half, by then it was too late,” Linenberger said.

The Hornets, who are a young team with most of their players being underclassmen or juniors, are currently suffering growing pains according to Linenberger.

“They have the tendency of lacking mental toughness; playing young and inexperienced, and lacking maturity. We have to stay on top of them and not let teams off the hook,” Linenberger said.

The Hornets have competed well in the first halves against Stanford, ranked No. 1 in the nation, and Loyola Marymount, ranked No. 7, only to crumble in the second half, giving up a combined ten goals in the second half of both games.

A tough non-conference schedule given the Hornets, who won their conference title last season, a chance to see some of their weaknesses.

Sac State improved their record to 2-5-3 after the overtime tie with Fresno State.