CSUN Falls on the Road at Sacramento State

Wednesday, October 16

Sacramento, Calif.

3:00 p.m.

California State University at Northridge

2-6-5, 0-3-2

Sacramento State

5-7-2, 2-3-0

CSUN

Sacramento St.

Photo by: Chuck Marvel

CSUN Falls on the Road at Sacramento State

10/16/2024 5:55:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SACRAMENTO, Calif.---CSUN Men's Soccer fell by a score of 5-0 to Sacramento State on Wednesday afternoon at Hornet Field. The Hornets scored four first-half goals and never looked back in picking up the Big West victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED
After an early shot from Zack Harris that went high, Sacramento State took control in the first 10-plus minutes of action by scoring two quick goals. The Hornets struck first in the sixth minute on their first attempt of the afternoon when they made a drive up the left side of the field. Jhared Willcot would set up Donovan Sessoms with a cross before Sessoms tapped the ball in for a 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later, the Hornets capitalized on a CSUN handball just above the top of the box. Hiroshi Yang took the free kick and sent a high shot over a leaping Merrick Cook into the goal.

Sacramento State was far from done though as the Hornets took advantage of another Matador mistake in the 23rd minute. A CSUN turnover on its backline led to Sean Battistessa outrunning the defense and scoring past Cook for a 3-0 lead. Sacramento State added another tally in the 34th minute on another strike from Battistessa when he picked up a long pass from his backline and finished with a chip shot to increase the lead to 4-0. Marley Edwards had CSUN's best look of the first half in the 37th minute when he found room from 12 yards but goalkeeper Mac Learned made a solid save going to his left.

CSUN took four shots over the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Hornets withstood the attack and soon added one more goal to their total for the day. In the 57th minute, Battistessa completed the hat trick when he scored off passes from Vincent Padilla and Angad Singh for a 5-0 lead. The Matadors were even with the Hornets in the shot department in the second half at 6-6 but could not find the net on the afternoon.

NOTES OF THE GAME

CSUN drops to 2-6-5 overall and 0-3-2 in Big West play while Sacramento State improves to 5-7-2 overall and 2-3-0 in conference.
The Hornets led by a 15-13 margin in shots but held a 9-1 edge in shots on goal.
CSUN produced six of the seven corner kicks in the match.
Edwards had a team-high four shots on the day.
Cook finished with two saves in 45 minutes in net while Dorian Drucks made his CSUN debut in the second half, registering two saves of his own.

UP NEXT
CSUN returns to Matador Soccer Field for a Saturday night match with UC Irvine. Kickoff is set for 7:05 p.m. on ESPN+ with Ghizal Hasan and Gio Galvez on the call.

#GoMatadors