Sacramento State men’s soccer added another draw to their record in a closely contested match against the Portland Pilots on Friday, Sept. 27.
The Pilots came out of the gate offensively assertive as they connected passes and pushed the ball forward to create chances. The Pilots spent the majority of the first 15 minutes on the Hornet’s half putting them on their heels.
“They got on the front foot right from the opening whistle and had us pinned in,” Sac State head coach Michael Linenberger said. “I thought we were slow, casual and a little timid. We didn’t come out aggressive enough.”
The Pilots capitalized on an opportunity in the 12th minute when redshirt junior forward Wylie Trujillo took the ball just inside the box. He delivered the ball across the goal where it deflected off of redshirt freshman defender Fernando Venegas.
The ball landed behind Pilot redshirt freshman forward Joe Highfield, who turned his body and powered a shot into the back of the net, sneaking it past the right post to give the Pilots a 1-0 lead.
Sac State responded to Portland’s strong start by building up attacks from their back line to push back against the Pilots’ strong efforts.
One of the initiators on offense was sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms, midway through the first half he took the ball down the left wing past two Pilot defenders. He sent a promising ball into the box to redshirt junior midfielder Stacy Holmes, but Holmes couldn’t send it past the Pilots senior goalkeeper Kash Oladapo.
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“It was easier for me to get on the ball and start to try things individually because we weren’t so pushed back on defense,” Sessoms said. “I think I was creative on the ball, but it was easier for me to be able to do that because of what the team was doing around me.”
The Hornets made major changes to start the second half, Linenberger made nine substitutions, including taking out junior midfielder Hasan Alsakati, and Venegas, who have been key players for the team.
The changes proved useful for Sac State in the 57th minute when two newly subbed players made an impact.
Sophomore goalkeeper Lucas Bost sent a high longball to freshman midfielder Sean Battistessa who found himself alone with the keeper outside of the 18. He chipped it right over the keeper’s head and into the goal to equalize 1-1.
“I’ve grown up with Lucas so there’s kind of a connection there,” Battistessa said. “I’ve scored that goal from him a couple of times in clubs. I knew there was going to be a chance and then I saw the goalkeeper come and just had to lob it over him a little bit.”
The Pilots had a chance to pull ahead when they sent a ball in that found redshirt junior midfielder Nick Fernandez who was fouled inside the box by a Hornet defender.
Fernandez shot the penalty to the left of the goal where it met Bost’s gloves for a major save.
“We watched him shoot one in the same spot in another game,” Bost said. “I was confident and excited when I saw him lining up to shoot it. When he stepped up to take it, he did the same exact thing he did before and that made me happy knowing, ‘Oh yeah, I got this.’”
The Hornets and Pilots battled it out towards the end of the match making sliding tackles and fighting for every ball, but it was to no avail. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
“I made massive changes at halftime and I thought we were better. Portland was still good, but we were better,” Linenberger said. “We got a hold of the ball, we had rhythm and possession, I was really pleased with the response of our guys in the second half.”
Sac State starts off Big West Conference play on the road against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners on Wednesday, Oct. 2. at 11 a.m.
