The Sacramento State men’s soccer team defeated Loyola Marymount 1-0 on a goal by sophomore forward Max Alvarez at 69:58 mark of the second half on Friday at Hornet Soccer Field.

With the win, the Hornets improve to 3-2-0, recording their third straight win. For the Lions, their record now stands at 3-2-0 on the season.

The game was the first time that both teams had met since the first round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, when the Hornets defeated the Lions 2-1 in overtime. In that game, then sophomore defensemen Bryan Baker hit the game-winning goal six minutes into overtime.

The win propelled the Hornets to their first ever second-round berth, where they faced UCLA but came up short, losing 2-1 in regulation.

The matchup onFridaywith the Lions was physical to the end of the game. In the first half alone there were six yellow cards and a total of nine by the end of the game. There were also 30 fouls called on top of that.

With the physical play, Alvarez managed score his first goal of the season. He said he was able to score because of Loyola’s weak defense.

“I saw their setup for corner kicks and they didn’t have anyone up top,” Alvarez said. “So when the corner kick came, I saw that everyone was bunched up in the middle, so I set up in the space at top of the box and took the first shot that came up.”

Associate head coach for LMU Mathes Mennell said the players for the Lions did not need an incentive to play Sac State, as the loss from the tournament was still fresh in their minds.

“I think anytime you have the opportunity to play a quality opponent, and the Hornets are just that, our motivation wasn’t hard to come by,” Mennell said.

Sac State has Saturday off before it welcomes a top 10 opponent in UC Irvine on Sunday. Hornets’ head coach Michael Linenberger said the team will need to recharge its batteries in order be prepared for the game against the Anteaters.

“For the guys that played a lot, it is a lot of regeneration, to help their bodies loosen up. Then talk a little bit about UC Irvine and make sure our heads are away from this game and focused on the next game,” Linenberger said.

Sunday’s kickoff at Hornet Soccer Field is set for 1 p.m.

Matt Harrington can be reached at [email protected]