The Sacramento State men’s soccer team (5-9-3, 3-4-1 Big West) kept their Big West Conference playoff aspirations intact with a 2-1 victory on the road Wednesday night against Cal Poly (8-5-4, 3-3-2 Big West).

The Hornets were down 0-1 with less than 13 minutes remaining in regulation until freshman forward Cylus Sandoval scored off a free kick and then caused a Cal Poly own goal to save the Hornets’ season.

In the 54th minute, Cal Poly took the 1-0 lead after an attempted save by Hornets goalkeeper Philip Bru caused the ball to deflect off the crossbar and Cal Poly’s John Chronopoulos found it and finished with a header.

Despite the deficit, the Hornets never lost their focus or tenaciousness and ended up capitalizing late.

In the 78th minute, Sandoval scored off a free kick when touches by Andres Garcia and Ivan Ramirez gave Sandoval enough space to fire a low shot inside the left post to tie the game.

Six minutes later, Sandoval hit a shot from the left sideline to the front of the Cal Poly goal and the ball deflected off of Cal Poly’s Jack O’Connor for the own goal.

Cal Poly had opportunities in the final five minutes to score, but Bru’s remarkable play at goalkeeper prevented them from equalizing the game and sending it into overtime.

The standings in the north division of the Big West Conference shook after two major upsets on Wednesday night. UC Santa Barbara beat UC Davis 1-0 in overtime and now share first place in the North Division with conference records of 4-2-2 and 14 points.

Points are awarded based off a team’s number of wins and ties. Three points are awarded for a win and one point is awarded for a tie.

Cal Poly is currently third in the North Division with a record of 3-3-2 in the Big West Conference and 11 points.

The Hornets are only one point behind Cal Poly with 10 points and have a conference record of 3-4-1.

Sacramento State held a 17-15 shot advantage in the game with seven shots on target. Phillip Bru also had five saves, none bigger than his penalty kick save in the second half.

“Well after we went down 0-1 it would have been really easy to give up,” Bru said. “But everyone kept pushing and Cylus came up big today with two clutch goals. Overall a great team win.”

The entire Hornets team, including leading goalscorer Chimdum Mez, were proud of Sandoval’s performance on Wednesday.

“It was a great team win and I’m really glad Cylus stepped up and put those two goals away for us to keep our playoff hopes alive,” Mez said.

Coach Michael Linenberger spoke after the game about the crucial road win against Cal Poly.

“It was a massive game for us to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot,” Linenberger said. “Three points on the road at Cal Poly is no easy task, especially coming back from a goal down. The penalty kick save by Bru was a big momentum swing.”

The Hornets’ next game will be their final road game of the season against UC Davis 1 p.m. Saturday. The regular season wraps up next Wednesday when the Hornets host UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m.