Sac State men’s soccer team defeated by UC Davis 2-1

Hornets now on three-match losing streak

Robert Moon

Sac State junior goalkeeper Hector Grajeda makes a save against UC Davis Saturday Oct. 5 at Hornet Field. UC Davis went on to win 2-1 in overtime.

Vince Castellana
October 6, 2019

The Sacramento State men’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to the UC Davis Aggies Saturday afternoon at Hornet Field.

The Hornets struck first in the 24th minute with a goal from freshman defender Jaime Robles thanks to an assist from junior forward Matthew Korpontinos to give Sac State a 1-0 lead. The Hornets held the one-goal lead going into halftime. 

The second half started off badly for Sac State. In the 50th minute, Hornets sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Curtis left the game with a head injury after colliding with UC Davis junior defender Jake Haupt. 

“It’s a head injury and we don’t know the severity of it yet,” said Michael Linenberger, Sac State men’s soccer head coach, after the game. “Our athletic training staff will monitor him and we hope we get him back soon, but we don’t know.”

Sac State would ultimately give up the lead in the 86th minute due to a goal from Aggies’ junior midfielder Nabi Kibunguchy.

The game went into overtime tied 1-1.

UC Davis would go on to win after a walk-off goal in overtime via a free kick from senior forward Kristian Heptner only one minute into overtime.

In the second half of regulation, the Hornets were mostly on the defensive and the Aggies had many chances to score. Linenberger said this was the biggest factor that led to UC Davis tying the game.

“Our guys in the second half didn’t find the moments to get a hold of the ball and connect passes,” said Linenberger. “We just kept giving them set-piece after set-piece, long-throw after long-throw, corner after corner, and we eventually broke.”

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Sac State junior defender Tyler Moss shared the same sentiments as his coach.

“In the second half they really were just really on top of us the whole time,” Moss said. “We kept fouling them, kept giving them long throw-ins and eventually they obviously got their first goal off that.”

The result against the Aggies marks the third straight loss for the Hornets men’s soccer team, following two losses on the road against No. 8 Indiana and No. 10 Saint Mary’s.

Sac State next plays Wednesday at UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m.