One Sacramento State men’s soccer player lost his jersey in celebration as the first-year Hornet found a last-minute goal to help defeat Portland 2-1 in the home opener on Thursday.
Sac State senior forward Alex Bettencourt, who played in his first home game at Hornet Field after transferring from Modesto Junior College, scored the game-winning goal with 45 seconds remaining after sophomore teammate Brad Bumgarner’s shot attempt was blocked by Portland goalkeeper Paul Christensen.
“I saw it coming to [Christian] Webb and I just called for the ball, but it went to [Bumgarner] who luckily got a strike on it and I just came in as the clean-up crew,” Bettencourt said. “We were fortunate that it just laid right there and I put it in.”
The late goal brought Sac State (2-3) its second victory of the year, but Bettencourt’s shirt-shedding celebration wouldn’t have been possible without senior forward Nate Nugen who tied the game 1-1 on a 10-yard strike with only 17 minutes remaining in regulation.
“We felt it was coming,” Nugen, who led both teams with five shots and three shots on goal, said. “We outshot them 16-6 so we were just right on the cusp there and when we got that opportunity and I took care of it—we knew we were going to win the game after that, so it was huge.”
Despite outshooting Portland 8-3 in both the first and second halves, Sac State trailed 1-0 for 41 minutes after Pilots freshman forward Benji Michel scored a goal on junior goalkeeper and Big West Defensive Player of the Week James Del Curto in the 31st minute of the game.
“I thought we played well for the majority of the game,” Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger said. “Portland is a very good team and they obviously had some good moments as well and scored first. I’m very proud of my team for staying with it, finding the equalizing goal and then the game winner so late. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Portland (4-2-1), which played in its third road contest in six days, previously had remained unbeaten for five straight games and received four votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division I Top-25 poll, according to Hornet Athletics.
“Portland [has some] very good attacking players, some very quick and fast players, some very creative players and we were concerned with that coming into the game, but I thought as a team we defended well,” Linenberger said. “We limited space—I thought our back four and 1-v-1 defending was very good today and we limited their chances.”
Sac State will continue its three-game homestand against San Jose State (1-4-1) at Hornet Field on Sunday, Sept. 18 at noon. Follow @SH_Sports on Twitter for up-to-the-minute score updates.
