In their final home game of the season, the Sacramento State men’s soccer team defeated University of Nevada, Las Vegas Sunday 1-0 in double overtime. Although the team celebrated senior day before the match, it was freshman Matt Foy who scored the golden goal with 6:21 left during the second overtime that sealed the victory for the Hornets.

The Hornets got off to slow start during the first half of the game and was outshot by the Rebels 11-4. The Hornets did have a chance to score during the half when sophomore Fernando Cabadas kicked a hard shot from 18 yards out in the 18th minute, but it hit the crossbar and the score was still 0-0.

During the second half, the Hornets regrouped and put forth a strong performance with seven shots and limiting the Rebels to just five. Blake Nunes did have an open shot opportunity, but a Rebel defender blocked it for a save.

At the end of regulation, the match was still scoreless and it remained the same after the first overtime with only two shots from each team. This would be the second match during the same weekend that the Hornets would go into double overtime.

When the second overtime started, Foy entered the match for the first time. His moment of glory came when Senior Omar Martinez, who led the team with assists entering the match up, took control of the ball and made a perfect slotted pass to Foy. From there, Foy took control and shot the ball under Goalkeeper Hawk Mummey for the golden goal that won the match for the Hornets.

Foy was actually in the process of being substituted and said that the feeling after he made the winning shot was not expected, but nonetheless an experience worth remembering.

“It was really exhilarating and I was pretty happy with how it happened,” Foy said. “Coach told (me) I was only going (to) play for 10 minutes and to make the most of it, and I did.”

Martinez said that the assist to Foy was a “spur of the moment”, but it turned out to be a success for the team.

“When I was ahead running towards the goal, I saw two guys come at me and that’s when I made the pass to Foy,” Martinez said. “I’m just glad that we were able to pull out a victory in the end.”

Hornet’s goalkeeper freshman Bryan Oliver also had a superb performance throughout the match with a career high eight saves.

Head Coach Michael Linenberger was disappointed with how his team was performing during the first half and felt that his players were not putting forth any effort to win the game.

“We did not play well during the first half and we look like we did not care about winning the game,” Linenberger said. “During halftime, I simply asked the guys, ‘Where’s your passion? Have you lost it?’ Once the second half came around, we played a lot better.”

Linenberger also said that this win against UNLV was still an important one despite the Hornets not qualifying for the playoffs.

“This was an important win for us because we did not let the Rebels sweep us,” Linenberger said. “Plus to win your last home game of the season is always special.”

While this game was the last home game of the season for the Sac State men’s soccer team, this was also the last game for the senior players as well. Martinez said he enjoyed this past season but hates to see it end.

“This season was incredible,” Martinez said. “We’ve improved as a team, our chemistry was great, it was an honor for me to play with the team this year. Too bad it’s all pretty much ending now.”

As far as future plans go, Martinez said that he plans to complete school and earn his degree in criminal justice.

Linenberger said he will miss his seniors that are leaving the team this year and was glad that they won their last home game of the season before they part.

“I was happy that we were able to send our seniors off with a win,” Linenberger said. “Our seniors have been great leaders and some of their qualities sometimes take some time to replace. Every program loses seniors every year and you just have to replace them and move on, but we’re going to miss those guys.”

All six of the Hornet seniors were honored before the match. They all appeared in the starting lineup, which included Martinez, P.J. Egloria, Adam Owens, Josh Zimbrich, Blake Owens and Brady Owens.

The Hornets will finish off the season at San Jose State on Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. Sac State will finish its first winning season since 2005 if the match results in a San Jose defeat.

Nick Hunte can be reached at [email protected].