SACRAMENTO — Senior Francisco Magana's first goal of the season in the 14th minute opened the scoring and the Sacramento State men's soccer team battled CSU Bakersfield to a 1-1 draw in the Big West Conference opener for both teams on Wednesday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.

The result moved the Hornets to 3-6-1 overall and 0-0-1 in league play with a home contest against UC San Diego looming on the horizon on Saturday (Sept. 30) at 4 p.m. The Roadrunners moved to 4-1-4 overall and 0-0-1 in conference, moving their unbeaten streak to seven.

In a foul-filled first half that saw the teams combined for 16 infractions and three cards, it was Magana who cashed in the first goal of the contest. Senior Cody Sundquist laid it off for teammate Hasan Alsakati, who looped a perfect ball behind the Bakersfield defense.

Magana won the footrace to the ball on the right side of the box and struck a right-footed one-timer past the CSUB goalkeeper to the left post for the 1-0 lead.

His score made him the ninth Hornet to find the back of the net this season, scoring for the first time since a 4-0 win at Cal Poly back on Oct. 19 last season. It was Magana's ninth career goal, giving him 23 points in his career, while Sundquist and Alsakati collected their fourth and first assists of the season, respectively.
 

ICYMI: ?? Francisco Magaña with his first of the year off a nice build up and passes by Cody Sundquist and Hasan Alsakati for the early lead against CSU Bakersfield on Wednesday... #StingersUp @BigWestSports pic.twitter.com/sLIAVcX1wQ

— Sacramento State Men's Soccer (@SacStMSoccer) September 28, 2023

The scoreboard stayed that way until the 37th minute when Sacramento State was whistled for a foul in the box as a Roadrunner player was pushed from behind, awarding them a penalty. Connor Mautino then stepped to the spot and put home his second of the year to tie the score at one apiece.

Both goalkeepers then shut down the scoring the rest of the way as the Hornets' Mac Learned finished with six saves to add to his nation-leading total and got some help from the woodwork at both ends as the crossbar denied Rashaad Ogun in the 27th minute and Adrian Jogerst did the same at the other end of the field in the 70th minute.

Magana had a golden chance to put his team ahead in the final two minutes, catching the Bakersfield keeper way off his line, but his chip shot from distance was headed away from danger and out for a corner by Haruya Iwasaki.