The Sacramento State men’s soccer team came into Saturday’s match against UC Irvine needing a win to remain in the playoff hunt.
They did not do so. Sac State fell to Irvine by a score of 2-0 and were officially eliminated from playoff contention.
The Hornets struggled in this matchup from the start. The first half was much of what Sac State has shown for a majority of this season, creating very few scoring opportunities and allowing UC Irvine to have several chances to score.
UC Irvine was unable to score in the 14th minute of the match after Sac State junior goalkeeper Mac Learned made a fantastic reflex save to stop a shot headed for the back of the net.
The first half against UC Irvine was one of the worst halves of soccer played by the Hornets all season. Sac State had no answers for the Anteaters’ defense within the first 45 minutes. Sac State managed three total shots, with only one being on target.
The Hornets’ lone shot on target in the first half looked as if it was more of a misplaced pass rather than a shot.
Despite the struggles, Sac State went into the half-time break tied with Irvine, leaving the Hornets with 45 minutes to keep their season alive.
Things quickly changed in the second half. Just two minutes into the half, Learned was given a red card after he grabbed a UC Irvine player, thus denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Not only was Learned given a red card, but UC Irvine was also awarded with a penalty kick.
This was the fourth red card Sac State received as a team, and the seventh penalty kick they’ve given up this season.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Edgar Guerra, who hadn’t appeared in a match since Aug. 27, was forced to come off the bench and replace Learned.
Guerra was immediately tasked with trying to save a penalty shot, but there wasn’t much he could do as Irvine sophomore forward Agaton Pourshahidi struck the ball perfectly and sent it to the top left corner of the goal.
The Hornets’ lack of offensive creativity became even more obvious while having to play nearly the entire second half with 10 players.
The Anteaters made sure to take advantage of playing with an extra player and in the 65th minute, Pourshahidi scored again to give himself a brace and to secure the win for Irvine.
With a win out of the picture, Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger decided to substitute in some players who have not featured regularly for the Hornets this season. Linenberger noted redshirt sophomore defender Gaelen Filtzanidis, senior midfielder Alex Petty and sophomore defender Justin Faison as substitutes who had an impact with the minutes they were given Saturday.
“I was actually pleased with those guys. They did really well,” Linenberger said. “They’re still hungry. We were 0-2 down, down a man and we weren’t going to come back. Those guys deserve their chance and I thought they did well.”
For Filtzanidis, these were his first minutes of the season after coming off a 2022 campaign which saw him play in 16 games.
“I kinda came in thinking I wanted to show everyone what I could have added to the team throughout the season,” Filtzanidis said.
Although the result did not go the way Sac State wanted, it was still a special game for the nine seniors who were celebrated before Saturday’s match.
One of those seniors was defender Genaro Alfaro, who has been a key player for Sac State this season. Alfaro has started in 11 of the 12 games he’s played in this season.
“I think I had a good season. It was a bit tough, a bit of a roller coaster ride since I got injured midseason,” Alfaro said. “As a team, we didn’t accomplish what we wanted. Unfortunately, for me there’s not another season to fix those things with the team, but I believe that the coaches and the team will come back stronger next season.”
Sac State’s last game is against local rivals UC Davis, Saturday 7 p.m. at UC Davis Health Stadium to close out the 2023 season.
