SACRAMENTO -- Senior Austin Wehner finished with a goal and an assist, while Cody Sundquist added another score late on Thursday evening as the Sacramento State men's soccer team suffered a narrow, 3-2, defeat to Saint Mary's at Hornet Soccer Field.
Despite finishing with multiple goals for the third time in the last four matches, it wasn't enough the pull the Hornets through on Thursday, suffering their second straight defeat to fall to 3-4 overall on the year. The Gaels improved to 4-1-2 overall with the win.
Both teams wasted little time in getting on the board as Saint Mary's found the back of the net off a turnover just four minutes in and Sacramento State equalized just two-and-a-half minutes later as Wehner turned a ball from Jaime Robles into his second goal of the season to make it a 1-1 match before seven minutes had elapsed in the match.
Robles took a pass from Alejandro Padilla and took a couple of touches to midfield before serving it forward to the right side of the penalty area. There, Wehner got tangled up with a Gaels' defender, but had enough to swim past and get his left foot on the ball, squeaking it past the goalkeeper to tie the score.
The back-and-forth continued as the Gaels took the lead for good in the 10th minute on a goal by Wade Muttitt for a 2-1 advantage that lasted through the remainder of the period.
It stayed that way until midway through the second half when Saint Mary's doubled its advantage on a goal by Maxwell Farnum, but Sundquist pulled a goal back with just 80 seconds remaining, taking a pass from Wehner and converting for the final 3-2 advantage.
Wehner fought off a defender to win the ball off a throw-in by Christian Powell, took a turn to his left out of the penalty area before feeding Sundquist at the top of the box. Sundquist took a touch and fired a ground ball through traffic, sneaking it past a diving Saint Mary's keeper at the left post to make it a one-goal contest.
The first goal was Wehner's second of the year, while his assist gave him a team-high four on the season, tying him with teammate Dominic Vegaalban for the team lead with eight points. Sundquist netted his first of the year to go with a pair of assists.
Sacramento State closes out the weekend on the road on Sunday (Sept. 17), heading to the Bay Area to take on San Francisco at 7 p.m. in the penultimate non-conference match of the season.
