SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento State men's soccer team hosted the Gonzaga Bulldogs Thursday afternoon for their final home non-conference match of the season. Despite a brilliant equalizer by Sacramento State's Alejandro Alcantara, a late go-ahead goal by Gonzaga proved the difference in the 2-1 match.
Trailing 1-0 in the 71st minute, Sacramento State's Alcantara delivered the equalizer with a beautiful one-timer. The play started with Ocsar Govea, who dropped the ball off for Jack Larter deep in the near corner for the Hornets. After chasing the ball down near the end line, Larter crossed the ball to the far side of the box for the waiting Alcantara.
With space around him, Alcantara drilled the ball out of the air and into the back of the net to level the score, 1-1. The goal was the first of Alcantara's collegiate career. Larter was credited with his first career assist on the goal.
Unfortunately, the 1-1 score did not hold for long. Just 15 minutes later, with 85:25 on the clock, Gonzaga scored the eventual game-winner from the top of the box. The Bulldogs scored their first goal early in the second half in the 47th minute.
Throughout the match, Sacramento State seemed to be in control, maintaining possession and getting multiple good looks at the goal. They outshot Gonzaga, 13-10, in the match while also taking more corner kicks, 9-8. The difference was that other than Alcantara's goal, not one of Sacramento State's other 12 shots was on target, while the Bulldogs placed six of their 10 shots on goal.
Dom Scotti, in his first game since Sep. 6, played 68 minutes for the Hornets while leading the team with five shots. Benji Kikanovic and Brad Bumgarner each had three shots for Sacramento State while Matt Carnefix and Alcantara each had one.
In addition to featuring all three goals on Thursday, the second half also featured 11 of the games' total penalties and five of the games' six yellow cards. Emotions and frustrations seemed to boil over on both sides starting in the 69th minute. In the final 21 minutes of play, five yellow cards were issued - three to Gonzaga and two to the Hornets.
The match is Sacramento State's last home non-conference contest of the season. They still have two non-conference games remaining - one at San Francisco and another at UC Davis - before returning home to host UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 3 in their Big West opener.
The match at San Francisco is scheduled for this Sunday, Sep. 23 at 7:00 pm. More information can always be found by visiting the Men's Soccer 2018 Schedule online at HornetSports.com.