SAN FRANCISCO -- Sacramento State junior goalkeeper Mac Learned finished with a career-high 10 saves to keep his side close, but the Hornets were unable to answer an early score by host San Francisco, falling to the Dons by the score of 1-0 on Sunday night at Negoesco Stadium.
The loss dropped Sacramento State to 3-5 overall on the year heading into their non-conference finale next Friday (Sept. 22) at 4 p.m. at Hornet Field. Sunday marked the third consecutive one-goal decision for the Hornets and the fourth overall in eight total contests this season.
The Dons improved to 5-1-2 overall with the win, taking their third consecutive victory in the series — all by a single goal.
Learned, whose previous career best was eight saves on three different occasions this year against Utah Tech, Pacific, and Saint Mary's, posted the most saves by a Big West Conference goalkeeper this season and the most by a Hornet keeper since Ryan Curtis finished with 10 against San Jose State on Aug. 30, 2019.
Since 2004, the 10 stops are tied for seventh on the school's single-match list, just four back of the high water mark held by James Del Curto, who had 14 stops against UC Irvine in both 2015 and 2016.
San Francisco wasted little time in getting on the board, scoring what would be the match's only score just 3:54 into the contest. Zane Alfranji took the ball into the box on the right side, got around a defender and put a ball inside the six-yard box that deflected off a Hornet defender and into the net for the 1-0 lead.
From that point on, Learned built a wall in front of the Sacramento State net, finishing with six stops in the first half and four more in the second to deny the Dons as the Hornets searched for the equalizer.
Christo Cervantes in the 38th minute and Michael Gonzalez in the 68th minute both forced USF keeper Eric Waltz into saves, but the Hornets had a pair of chances to tie the match snuffed out late.
Axel Ramirez had the first in the 77th minute, catching Waltz off his line only to have his chip shot headed away from danger by a Dons defender at the last moment. In the final 10 seconds, Stacy Holmes had the final chance at the death as his header was punched away by Waltz but pinballed off a USF defender and narrowly missed sneaking inside the left post as time expired.
San Francisco held a 22-7 shot advantage — including 11-3 in shots on goal — led by four apiece from Constantinos Michaelides and Gabriel Bracken Serra. Seven different Hornets finished with attempts on the night.
