Sacramento State men’s soccer tacked on a win over the Santa Clara Broncos on Thursday, Sept. 19, but came up short offensively for a 1-1 draw against the University of Pacific Tigers on Sunday, Sept 22. 

Thursday: Sac State: 2, Santa Clara: 1 

Sac State was moving the ball and dominating possession to start the match off against the Broncos. 

Junior midfielder Hasan Alsakati opened the match with creative plays in the attacking third. He successfully connected with teammates to create opportunities early on in the game. 

The fruit of Sac State’s offensive labor came in the 13th minute when senior midfielder Axel Ramirez looped a pass around the Broncos’ defense which found redshirt junior midfielder Stacy Holmes, who was alone with the keeper inside the penalty box. Holmes placed a shot to the right of the keeper to give the Hornets a 1-0 advantage. 

“It’s a confidence lifter, for sure,” Holmes said. “Being here for four years and getting my first goal, you know, it just makes me feel good and confident.” 

Two minutes later the Broncos responded, a failure to clear the ball by Sac State’s defense cost them dearly as junior forward Tyler Tipton launched the ball from the top of the penalty box to the left of senior goalkeeper Mac Learned to balance to score 1-1. 

“We need to do a better job of not letting the opponent back in the game, especially so quickly,” Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger said. “We need to settle down and make sure we’re focused, especially the next five minutes after the goal.”

This was the second time Sac State conceded a goal within two minutes of scoring this season. Linenberger said he feels this is something they can improve on, especially since the minutes following a goal are some of the most important of the match. 

In the 57th minute, Alsakati was fouled by sophomore midfielder Itamar Efrat and was awarded a free kick. 

Alsakati passed a through ball to sophomore defender Zac Giles who got close to the goal, but was fouled by junior forward Baronyi Kengeye inside the box, earning a penalty kick. Alsakati converted the penalty as he fired the ball to the left of junior goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead. 

“Throughout the game, with the help of the three other midfielders, I started finding spaces where they were exposed, in between their back line and their midfield line,” Alsakati said. “I feel like that’s kind of what I found success.”

Sac State’s defense stepped up big in the late stages of the match to keep their 2-1 lead. Redshirt freshman defender Gio Ceja took initiative both defensively and offensively making important plays throughout the match and helping edge out the win. 

“I was trying to control the team a little bit,” Ceja said. “It was kind of a hectic game, just keeping our heads, trying to keep everyone on the same page and making sure everyone has the drive to get that second goal.”

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The Hornets held on to their lead as they controlled the end of the match with defensive firepower. 

“We’ve been talking as a coach and staff and we think the biggest change in our group for the last three games has been our mentality to grind out results,” Linenberger said. “Our mentality has changed to work, run, cover and sacrifice for each other.” 

Sunday: Sac State: 1, University of the Pacific: 1

Sac State and UOP came out of the gate battling each other evenly for possession and opportunities. 

Early in the game sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms sent a ball into the box from the right corner, but it went just behind the attacking Hornets and was cleared by the Tigers. 

The Tigers fought back as junior defender Jacob Heisner crossed in a ball for a header by junior forward Alberto Cruz toward the goal, but ultimately got cleared out by the Hornets’ defense. 

It was a hot day in the high 90s and Linenberger tactically went to his bench for multiple subs after a hydration break given to both teams by the referee. 

“Our mindset was, ‘We’re gonna have to go to our bench earlier, and more, to try and stay a little bit fresh,’” Linenberger said. “We went to our bench and made changes, more changes than we ever have, and earlier than we ever had and those guys had an immediate impact on our game.”

The substitutions proved useful for Sac State in the 27th minute as freshman forward Montgomery Carey navigated his way up the pitch past the Tigers’ defense.

Carey crossed the ball across the goal to the back post where freshman forward Ethan Kelly powered it through to the back of the net for a 1-0 Hornet lead. 

“I have good chemistry with the guy who assisted me, Montgomery,” Kelly said. “I knew where he was going to be, I played a ball to him, he found me at the back post and it worked out perfectly.”

The substitutions gave Sac State fresh legs and a different look, but they couldn’t break through again.

In the 60th minute, Sac State was called for a handball and a penalty kick was awarded to the Tigers. Junior midfielder Luca Baltzer shot the ball and it went into the top left corner of the goal leveling the score 1-1. 

Later in the match, the Hornets spent the remainder of the game in the Tigers half, but couldn’t capitalize.

Giles put pressure on the Tigers defense and forced counterattacks to create late chances for the Hornets, but never managed to find the net. 

“I felt confident and I beat my defender a few times,” Giles said. “I knew we were getting chances, we just didn’t end up getting it to fall, which is disappointing.”

Despite the final push for a goal from the Hornets’ offense, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. 

“I thought it was pretty even. We had moments. They had moments,” Linenberger said. “They had the first 30 minutes, the second half, we had the last 15. I thought we created more dangerous chances than they did throughout the game.”

Sac State travels to Merlo Field to face off against the University of Portland on Friday, Sept. 27 at 5 p.m. There are two games left before the Hornets enter Big Sky Conference play.