Sonoma Falls to #14 ranked Cal Poly, 5-8

The Sonoma State Seawolves lost to #14 ranked Cal Poly on Sunday, March 1st by a score of 5-8. The Seawolves are now 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in WCLL play. 

Key performances from the contest include junior Riley Corcoran (20 saves,  8GA, 71% save percentage), senior Mason Colaizzi (3G, 2CTO), senior Dylan Hardy (8 GB), junior Liam Crow (3 GB, 2CTO), senior Benen Powers (1G, 2A), and junior John Heck (8GB, 9 faceoff wins). 

To begin the game, the Mustangs got on the board first to take a 1-0 lead 3 minutes into the contest. The Seawolves would score next on a nice feed from sophomore midfielder Bradey Tyler to Mason Colaizzi who let off a high bounce shot for a score. Both defenses stood strong for the remainder of the quarter, leaving it tied 1-1 after the first. 

In the second, the defense for both teams seemed to have the upper hand as both offenses seemed to be searching for opportunities to generate scoring opportunities. The Seawolves were called for two penalties mid way through the quarter, forcing them to play at a two man disadvantage. The Noma defense rose to the occasion, killing the penalty and clearing the ball for a big momentum swing. In the final minute of the half, the Seawolves took advantage of a man-up opportunity themselves when Benen Powers found Colaizzi on a skip pass that ended with a lefty finish on the doorstep. At half, the Seawolves found themselves in another tight, defensive battle, trailing the Mustangs 2-3. 

To start the second half, Cal Poly controlled the face-off and pushed it forward to start a break. After a shot went out of the back endline, the Mustangs took advantage of a quick reset to find a man on the left wing for an open shot that resulted in a goal. Sonoma took advantage of a two man-up opportunity later in the quarter when sophomore DJ Santiago found senior Dustin Smith for a righty finish from the left wing. The Seawolf defense would allow one more goal with 20 seconds left in the third, ending the quarter trailing 3-6. 

Early in the fourth, it was Powers to Colaizzi again in an unsettled situation on a feed from X to cut the Mustang's lead to 4-6. Junior face-off specialist John Heck had a number of crucial face-off wins throughout the quarter, each of which seemed to be more important than the one before it. This allowed for additional possessions for the Seawolves that were vital to their comeback effort. A controversial call occurred late in the game when senior defensive midfielder Owen McCarthy found Powers on the doorstep for what would have been a fantastic finish and a huge momentum swing for SSU. Instead, Powers was ruled in the crease, waiving the goal that would have brought Sonoma to within 1. The Seawolves comeback attempt would ultimately fall short, as the score at the final horn was 5-8, in favor of the Mustangs. 

The Seawolves will now host the Minnesota Golden Gophers at home on Sunday, March 8th at 11:30am at Seawolf Stadium (formerly the NCAA soccer stadium) in the heart of campus. The forecast is projecting a sunny day with temperatures approaching 80 degrees. We look forward to hosting our fans for what should be a beautiful day on campus!

Go Seawolves!