On Friday, the men’s soccer team entered the LIU Soccer Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., hoping to get a road win. On Monday, the Hornets returned to Sacramento with a handful of milestones and a championship trophy.

After 120 minutes in its first game, the Hornets tied Adelphi 1-1. The lone score of the draw for the Hornets was by senior Marco Ramirez.

Two days later, the Hornets concluded the tournament by beating Long Island for its first road victory of the season and claiming the tournament championship. The win marked head coach Mike Linenberger’s 100th career victory, making his career record 100-172-26. Ramirez was named the tournament MVP after netting the game-winner in the championship game, his third goal of the season.

“The hard work of the other 10 guys on the field gave me the opportunities,” Ramirez said. “Without them, I probably wouldn’t have got the goals.”

Junior Ryan Rhoads, last season’s leading goal scorer, has struggled to get the ball into the back of the net so far, but was able to score against Long Island. Rhoads, senior Ricky Rodriguez and juniors Pedro Lupercio and Utodi Madu were selected to the All-Tournament team.

As a result of his performance, Ramirez gained national attention when he was named to College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week on Monday. While the news was exciting for Ramirez, he doesn’t think he was any more responsible for the championship than any of his teammates.

“This team has so much talent that anyone could be selected for this weekly award,” Ramirez said. “I’m just really glad that we could show people outside of Sacramento that we can play well.”

Next, the Hornets will take on the Menlo Oaks today at Hornet Soccer Field at 4 p.m.The Hornet men will look to continue playing strong defense. They were one deflected shot away from consecutive clean sheets against Oregon State and Dayton in their two previous home games. During the LIU Soccer Classic, the defense kept their opponents at bay, helping the Hornets out shoot the competition 45-32.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Hornets have had a number of scoring opportunities, but have been unable to finish. While they’ve put on an offensive barrage in recent games, especially during the tournament last weekend, the Hornets have scored only five goals en route to their 3-1-1 record, the best start in the program’s Division I history.

Located in Atherton, Calif., Menlo is a Division III school in the California Pacific Conference. The Oaks come into the game with a 3-1-0 record following a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Point Loma Nazarene. Junior forward Aiden O’Flynn leads a balanced Oaks attack with three goals so far this season, while goalkeeper Jarin Beck, a junior, has stopped 28 shots on goal through four games.

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Tyler Stalker can be reached at [email protected]