The Sacramento State men’s soccer team was defeated at home by CSU Bakersfield Friday by a score of 3-0 in its first home conference game.

The Roadrunners ran the Hornets off the field from start to finish.

Bakersfield midfielder Kory Kindle opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a close-range shot inside the penalty box. Hornet goalkeeper Cesar Castillo had denied him a goal just a few minutes prior.

The scoring continued early in the second half when the Roadrunners earned a free kick outside the penalty box with CSU Bakersfield’s Lucas Dall’Orso curving the free kick past the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

About 10 minutes later, the Roadrunners scored again.

After dispossessing Sac State near midfield, forward Gyasi Zardes led the counter attack, flew past the defender and shot to the lower left post to make it 3-0.

This was the Hornets first loss against the Roadrunners in its Division I history.

Sac State had an all-time record of 4-0-2 against CSU Bakersfield prior to Friday’s loss. The Roadrunners are ranked No. 25 in the NCAA and also have the No. 2-ranked player Zardes with 12 goals.

The Hornets could not keep hold of the ball and gave away unnecessary fouls in its own half throughout the game.

“We gave away the ball too easily around midfield, which led to their third goal” said Sac State defender Matt Linenberger. “The plays of the day for them were counters.”

Sac State did have a few chances during the game; it just could not take advantage when it mattered most.

“We felt like we had one or two chances to score. We made plays in the final third,” Matt Linenberger said. “We could not execute that final touch.”

CSU Bakersfield is the No. 25 ranked school and is a team that likes to keep possession of the ball.

“We knew coming in that they were a good team,” said head coach Michael Linenberger. “They showed that today. They have two very special players (in Zardes and Jesus Sanchez).”

The Roadrunners dominated throughout the game, edging the Hornets 21-13 on shots on goal and 7-5 on corner kicks. Sac State goalkeeper had a busy day having to make seven saves.

Michael Linenberger said the team needs to improve defensively and work on keeping possession of the ball moving forward.

“We have had an issue with that all year long and today it showed,” Michael Linenberger said.

The Hornets host the University of Seattle on Sunday at 1 p.m. for their second consecutive conference game.

Daniel Morales can be reached at [email protected].