Sacramento State men’s soccer lost 2-0 to CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday at home as they were shutout for the second straight game.

The Hornets now drop to 3-8-3 and 1-2-2 in Big West play, which puts them in seventh place. The Roadrunners are now 4-7-1 overall but 3-2 in the Big West as they sit in second place. 

Problems finding shots once again troubled the Hornets as the team managed one shot on goal for the match. This was an improvement from the zero shots on goal they had on Saturday against UC Riverside. 

The Hornets were held scoreless in both matches.

“It’s been our same issue all year,” said head coach Michael Linenberger. “We don’t shoot on target. I think we made the goalkeeper make one save. We had four or five good opportunities, and our final action just isn’t good enough.”

The first half was evenly matched as the two teams felt each other out before heading to halftime still knotted at zero.

Shortly into the second half, the Hornets committed a foul inside their own box resulting in a penalty kick for the Roadrunners. 

The Roadrunners sent junior midfielder Carlos Armendariz to take the penalty kick, and Armendariz banged it to the back of the net past the Hornet junior goalkeeper Ryan Curtis who finished with six saves in the match.

“It’s like a movie we’ve watched over and over again all season,” said freshman midfielder Axel Ramirez. “They score in the first five minutes of the second half, and  now we’re chasing the game trying to recover. The whole game plan changes.”

In the 79th minute, Bakersfield made it 2-0 when junior forward Justin Markus stole the ball at midfield. Markus’ first shot was blocked by Curtis, but he gathered his own rebound and shot once again. This time it was not blocked, and the Roadrunners made it 2-0.

The Hornets could not recover and as of now have not scored in 228 straight minutes over a three-game span.

“We’ve just got to have the courage to shoot the ball,” said senior defender Tyler Moss. “It doesn’t matter where from, just get shots on target and test the goalie out.”

The Hornets goals per game is now at a slim 1.15 goals per match and 0.83 goals a game at home, which has resulted in a 1-4-1 record at Hornet Field this year for Sac State. 

“A team like us that doesn’t score a lot of goals,” Linenberger said. “We have to get shutouts or at least hold our opponents to one goal.”
Sac State will have a chance Saturday to improve those numbers as they host another Big West matchup against UC San Diego. 

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.