Seawolves Defeat #15 ranked Oregon, Go 2-0 on Spring Break Trip

The Sonoma State Seawolves traveled up to Eugene, Oregon for their annual spring break trip to take on #15 ranked University of Oregon (on 3/21) and UCLA (on 3/22). The Seawolves were victorious in both games, defeating Oregon 11-8 and UCLA 21-9. The Seawolves are now 7-3 on the season. 

Key performers from the weekend include senior Benen Powers (an eye popping 11 goals and 6 assists between the two games), junior Riley Corcoran (21 saves vs Oregon), senior Dylan Hardy (1G, 3A, 12 GB's on the weekend), senior Mason Colaizzi (8G, 2A on the weekend), and junior Liam Crow (9 GB's vs UCLA). 

Oregon Game Summary (Saturday, March 21st):

To begin the contest, the high powered Ducks offense got on the board first, scoring on their first two shots on cage to give them an early 2-0 lead within the first two minutes of the contest. Sophomore close defender Alejandro Bolz got the party started for the Seawolves after clearing the ball himself and letting go a high bounce shot that found the back of the net and fired up the Seawolf bench. Both offenses came out firing early with each team trading goals throughout the quarter. The senior attack unit of Nick Frangione, Powers, and Colaizzi led the charge offensively throughout the game, with each player stepping up huge when it mattered most. At the end of the first, the score was tied 4-4. 

To start the second quarter, Benen Powers began his tear with a picture perfect inside roll after crossing GLE to give the Seawolves a 5-4 lead 30 seconds into the second quarter. The shot of the day came from sophomore midfielder Bradey Tyler when he scooped up a loose ball and let off a righty cannon while drawing a cross check penalty that put the Seawolves up 6-5 with an extra man advantage. Then, the "Oak Park Connection" of Hardy to Powers struck again when Hardy found Powers on the doorstep to put the Seawolves up 7-5 going into the half. 

The Seawolves opened the third quarter with a ferocious ride resulting in an intercepted pass by Powers that he then fired into the open net from midfield to give the Seawolves an 8-5 lead and the clear momentum. As they have for the majority of the season, the Noma defense proved to be nothing short of dominant, allowing only 2 goals in 45 minutes of gameplay from the 1st quarter to the 4th quarter. This was particularly impressive against the Ducks offense, who averaged 19.1 goals per game coming into the contest and had only been held to single digits once this season (9 goals vs BYU). Netminder Riley Corcaran was an absolute brick wall between the pipes, recording 15 of his 21 saves in the second half alone. After yet another assist from Hardy to Powers, SSU ended the third quarter with a 9-6 lead. 

In the fourth, the Seawolves increased their lead to 10-6 on a hard dodge from Colaizzi down the right alley that drew two defenders and left Powers open on the doorstep. Colaizzi's feed was right on the money, allowing for an easy finish by Powers. Oregon would score two goals in the final two minutes to bring the score to 10-8 with a minute to play. In the end, Oregon attempted to run a double team out of a timeout to trap Colaizzi, but Colaizzi wove through the entire Oregon defense to deliver the dagger to put the Seawolves up 11-8. 

Two players received national recognition by the MCLA for their perfomance's this past weekend. Senior attackman Benen Powers earned Warrior player of the week, awarded to the top player in the country at the division one level. See article linked here:  Venzor, Powers Take Warrior Honors

Riley Corcoran, who currently leads the entire country with a 68% save percentage, was also awarded honorable mention for the Pearl Goalie of the week. Corcoran's performance in cage has been a primary factor in the Seawolves defensive success this season, and it was on full display over the weekend. 

The Seawolves will now prepare to go on the road to take on WCLL rival, #20 ranked UC Berkeley on Saturday, April 4th at 2pm at Maxwell Family Field. The game will be live streamed, so be on the lookout for a link to the stream sent out via our instagram account: @nomalax

Highlights from the win vs. Oregon