Sacramento State’s men soccer team lost to Denver 2-1 at home on Sunday.

“I am disappointed because we were definitely the better team,” said assistant coach Jason Gantt, “We had possession of the ball for the majority of the game and had a lot of chances to score.”

The Hornets started the game by attacking the Pioneers’ field. Forward Matthew Tellez took the first shot of the game, and Pioneer goalie Joe Willis blocked it. The Hornets and the Pioneers then spent the majority of the first half struggling for control of the ball. With 19 seconds left in the first half, Pioneer Ryan Aweida scored giving the Pioneers the lead, 1-0.

“After the first goal at the end of the half, we really knew we had to try our hardest,” said midfielder Scott Crandall, “In order to win, we knew we had to buckle down.”

The Hornets spend the first few minutes of the second half defending their goal. Aweida attempted a head shot that missed the Hornets goal. Then, Pioneer Collin Audley kicked the ball from ten yards to score. The Pioneers now led 2-0.

“I was letting the boys know we were still in it,” said defender Zach Tuss, “The worst score to be up by for the other team is 2-0, because we’re most likely to get motivated and come back.”

After the Pioneers’ goal, the Hornets attacked the Pioneers field, taking shots at their goal. In the 67th minute of the game, Crandall sent a cross a to Tuss. Tuss then head butted the ball to score for the Hornets, cutting the Pioneers lead in half to 2-1.

“The defense was shifting so I knew they were vulnerable, so I sent out a cross,” said Crandall, “I tried to put pace on it, and just hoped that someone would put their head on the ball.”

Tuss said that after Crandall touched the ball, he jumped into action.

“My feet left the ground and I just dove,” said Tuss, “Then, I redirected the ball toward the goal.”

After their first goal, the Hornets attempted to tie the game. Forward Chris Bettencourt had a header that hit the goal post. The Hornets continued to attack the Pioneer’s field, but weren’t able to score. The Pioneers won the game 2-1.

“I thought we tried really hard in this game and we were just unlucky off the post,” said Tuss.

The Hornets’ next game will be in Colorado, against Air Force on October 31.

“We got two weeks off to get our stuff together for the second half of conference,” said Tuss.

Zaki Syed can be reached at [email protected]