The Sacramento State men’s soccer team suffered a 4-1 loss after a dominating performance by the San José State Spartans on Friday evening at Hornet Field.
The loss extended Sac State’s losing streak to four games. It looked as if the Hornets were going to put an end to this streak after taking an early lead, but a run of four unanswered goals ended that hope quickly.
The 4-1 Spartan victory is Sac State’s largest margin of defeat since their loss against Gonzaga in August.
Sac State’s lone goal came in the 11th minute from senior forward Austin Wehner and it was assisted by senior midfielder Cody Sundquist, which gave Sundquist his third assist of the season and Wehner his third goal of the season.
Wehner has consistently put himself on the score sheet this season. Through nine games, he has three goals and four assists to give him a total of 10 points on the season.
Wehner’s work ethic is noticeable on the pitch. He constantly pressures the opposition when the Hornets are off the ball and he’s there to create chances for his teammates when he isn’t making runs behind the defense.
“I’ve always worked hard,” Wehner said. “It’s just what I do and I hope to just kind of put a little spark in the rest of the team. If I’m not playing my best, and at least I’m working hard, I can at least be happy with myself for that sense.”
Although Sac State grabbed an early lead, it was all downhill for them after that.
Spartan sophomore midfielder Angel Iniguez scored the equalizer in the 23rd minute. Seven minutes later, senior forward Isaac Lomeli scored to give San José State the lead. In the 40th, the Spartans struck again, but this time by senior defender Joel Garcia Jr., which extended the Spartan lead.
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Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger described Sac State’s first half performance against San Francisco last weekend as maybe their “worst half of soccer of the season,” but the first half versus San José State may have claimed that title.
Linenberger was absent from the sideline on Friday, and filling in for him was associate head coach Matt McDougall.
“We’re a better team than we’re showing right now and we hit some adversity,” McDougall said. “But we’ll persevere. We have a very good team.”
Like the game against San Francisco, the Hornets had a good response in the second half, but the scoreline did not reflect that. Sac State quickly looked to score at the start of the second half and had some good chances, but they were not able to convert those chances into goals.
In the first half, the Spartans outshot the Hornets 9-3, but in the second half, the Hornets had more shots by a tally of 8-3.
“We were making them uncomfortable,” McDougall said. “We were pressing them, we were getting the balls turned over and we had a lot of chances, but then it has to come to fruition in the box.”
Despite the improved play, things went from bad to worse for Sac State as sophomore forward Anthony Guzman scored to make it 4-1 and ultimately sealed the victory for San José State.
Conceding four goals is not something Sac State would’ve expected, particularly because of the outstanding form junior goalkeeper Mac Learned has been in – but there wasn’t much Learned could have done to prevent any of the goals.
“When people turn off I try and save them,” Learned said. “I try and do the best I can – you know, you don’t always get them.”
Coming into Friday’s game, Learned was atop the list for total saves in Division I men’s soccer. It’s a stat he said he is proud of, but every goalkeeper would rather not have to constantly face shots on target.
“I don’t care about the saves as long as we’re not conceding shots and conceding goals,” Learned said. “So getting a lot of shots is frustrating.”
Next up for Sac State is CSU Bakersfield where they’ll kick off Big West Conference play at Hornet Field Wednesday at 4 p.m.
