Sacramento State men’s soccer jumped into second place in the Big West North conference standings after defeating conference opponent Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1-0 on Wednesday at Hornet Field.
With the absence of leading goal scorers Alex Bettencourt (5) and Ivan Ramirez (4), Sac State (7-6-2, 3-3-1 Big Sky) pitched a shutout defensively against Cal Poly (3-9-1, 1-5-1 Big West) and true-freshman Christian Webb scored the only goal of the game in the 42nd minute. Bettencourt was forced to sit out the game for picking up his fifth yellow card against UC Davis and Ramirez sat out the game due to an injury.
“Our goal going into the game was can we keep it to zero and get a shutout at home,” Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger said. “I thought it was a fantastic team effort to defend.”
Sac State junior goalkeeper James Del Curto, who had to briefly exit the game for six minutes after receiving a cut to the head, recorded only two saves through 84 minutes of play. The game was an offensive struggle for both teams as the Hornets and Mustangs combined to finish with only 7 shots on goal.
“I didn’t think it was our best offensive game, but we capitalized on the chance we got and held onto it from there,” Webb said after scoring his second goal of the season.
The game featured six yellow cards between both teams, two from Cal Poly forward Jared Pressley, the last of which led to an ejection in the 49th minute. For the final 41 minutes the Mustangs were playing a man down and failed to create any opportunities.
“The Big West is a tough, competitive conference which leads to a lot of physical games,” Linenberger said. “But I was pleased that my group responded well, continued to work hard and didn’t back down.”
The victory gives Sac State three extra points in the Big West North standings and thanks to a UC Davis loss earlier in the day, the Hornets now hold the second-place spot.
“We put ourselves in a good position having a six-point lead with only three games left to go,” Linenberger said. “Our goal is not just to make the tournament this year but finish in the top two and host a tournament game.”
The Hornets will next play rival UC Davis at Aggie Soccer Field on Oct. 22 and then return for the team’s final regular season home game against UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 26 at Hornet Field.
