Sacramento State men’s soccer welcomes back junior forward Chimdum Mez from suspension after recording a draw against Saint Marys.

Mez, who was serving his one game suspension last Sunday, was dearly missed in the lineup.

“[Mez] gives us a different dimension on our team with his 6’4 size and his ability to use his size to his advantage,”head coach Mike Linenberger said. “Without him last weekend we were quite a smaller team.”

Mez was ejected from the University of San Francisco match Sept. 12 in the first extra time period when he slid and collided with the goalie hitting him in the mouth. The referee immediately pulled his red card on Mez following the collision.

Mez said that his intention was not to hit the goalie in the face.

“I saw it as a 50/50 chance that I score or don’t score the goal,” Mez said. ”However, I didn’t think I was going to be given a red card for my play.”  

Once he came back to practice on Monday, he said he was ready for this weekend’s set of games in Southern California.

“It feels great that I am coming back this weekend, even though I don’t want to miss a game this season,” Mez said. “The rest last weekend helped me for this week of preparation.”

Mez is coming back just in time as the Hornets head to Southern California this weekend. The Hornets have two big tests against the University of San Diego and Loyola Marymount University.

Mez said he is not going to let his red card stop his aggressive nature on the field.

“I am going to let the game against USF come into my mind because I am going to  play harder than I did against USF and a lot smarter in how I play,” Mez said.

 San Diego finished last season in the elite eight of the National Soccer tournament before being ousted by Georgetown. The Toreros started this season with a preseason national ranking of 16, according to the NSCAA Coaches preseason poll.

However, after a 1-1-3 start to the season, the Toreros found their national rank evaporate as it lost the first two games to San Diego State and #3 nationally ranked Cal State Northridge, before it won their only match of the season against Cal State Fullerton.

The Hornets beat the Toreros in overtime in the second game last season; it was one of nine losses that the Toreros suffered.

The second match against LMU is slated for Sunday. The Lions started this season 3-1-0.

Linenberger said he is glad to have Mez back in his starting lineup.

“Both LMU and USD are big teams and very physical teams,” Linenberger said. “So to have [Mez] come back in time for this weekend’s matches is going to help us a lot in how we prepare. 

Sac State plays USD on Friday at 4 p.m. and the LMU Lions on Sunday at 3 p.m.  

You can reach Clifton Jones on Twitter at @JonesSHsports