SACRAMENTO -- Austin Wehner's goal in the 81st minute broke a 1-1 deadlock and host Sacramento State held on from there, snapping a four-match losing streak with a 2-1 victory over UC Riverside on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.
The win pushed the Hornets' record to 7-6-2 overall and 2-4 in Big West Conference play on the season, picking up three huge points in the race for a league tournament berth. The Highlanders fell to 4-7-3 overall and 3-2-1 in conference action.
A flurry of goals opened the match as each side came up with a score in the first six-and-a-half minutes. UC Riverside had the opener as Oscar Penate stole the ball near midfield and ran to the right side of the box. He then sent a pass to the middle of the box for Issa Badawiya, who took a touch and finished to lower left corner for the 1-0 lead.
That advantage did not last long as Sacramento State needed only 63 seconds to net the equalizer. Just moments after Cody Sundquist nicked the post in the previous possession, Wehner won a ball in the air that fell to the feet of Francisco Magana about 20 yards out.
Magana then fed Dominic Vegaalban on the left side who dribbled into the box and went 1-v-1 with the keeper, finishing to the lower right side to tie the match at one apiece.
From that point on, the match was pretty even all the way to the final 10 minutes when Wehner was able to come up with the winner. A bouncing ball at the top of the 18 had Wehner up against three Highlander defenders. After settling the ball, Wehner out-muscled a defender to the right side of the 18, made a turn, and floated a chip shot to the far left post past the outstretched arm of the UC Riverside goalkeeper and in for the one-goal advantage.
Sacramento State's defense then held firm, not allowing a Highlander shot attempt over the final 9:51 as the horn sounded.
The Hornets finished with a 14-11 shot advantage, putting eight of their attempts on frame, led by three apiece from Wehner and Vegaalban. Edgar Guerra, making his first start since Sept. 11 against Gonzaga, finished with three saves between the pipes to earn the win, improving to 4-1-1 overall on the year.
Sacramento State hits the road for the final time in the regular season next week, heading to San Luis Obispo to take on Cal Poly on Wednesday (Oct. 19), before closing out the road portion of their schedule on Saturday (Oct. 22) in Orange County at Cal State Fullerton.
