Sac State men’s soccer began the month of October on the road at UC San Diego, losing 3-2 to the Tritons on Saturday Oct. 1, 2022 at Triton Soccer Stadium. 

Defensive struggles marred the Hornets, who allowed two goals to UC San Diego’s sophomore midfielder Andrew Valverde and an own goal being recorded against Sac States’ sophomore defender Christian Powell. 

“Our keeper made a save and as I was trying to make a play to get out of the way, [the ball] hit me in the foot,” Powell said regarding the incident. “I started to stumble and then [the ball] just ended up in the back of the net.” 

The incident came in Powell’s first start of the year at the center back position. Powell was filling in for junior captain Jaime Robles, who went down with a concussion in the team’s win over CSU Bakersfield on Sept. 29. 

Robles’ absence on the backline was certainly felt, as they tied the most allowed goals (3) on the season since playing Washington in the season opener on Aug. 25. 

“Anytime you allow 3 goals in a game you can’t expect to win,” Head coach Michael Linenberger said about the team’s struggles. 

Sophomore midfielder Axel Ramirez echoed his coaches thoughts and called the game “one of the lowest points of the season’

Another major loss for the Hornets was an injury suffered to starting sophomore goalkeeper Mac Learned, who exited the game with 5 minutes to go in the first half after colliding with a UCSD player. Redshirt freshman Edgar Guerra replaced and finished the game in place of Learned.

Coach Linenberger says the extent of Learned’s injuries are currently unknown, but he does have contuitions on his right quad. 

Despite the team’s struggles on the backline and injuries in goal, the Hornets looked strong on offense. Junior midfielder Cody Sundquist picked up his second goal of the season and Axel Ramirez got his first. 

“[I felt good] good in the moment because it helped equalize [the score,]” Ramirez said about his first goal of the season.“But we didn’t get the result.” 

The Hornets drop to 6-3-2 on the season, with a 1-1 record in the Big West Conference. 

Lineneberger’s squad looks to turn it around on Wednesday, Oct. 5th with a home game at Hornet Stadium against CSU Northridge that will begin at 3 PM.