USAFA, Colo. -- Not even a 45-minute lightning delay could hold back the Sacramento State men's soccer team's offense on Sunday afternoon as three different Hornets found the back of the net en route to a 3-1 win over former MPSF rival and host Air Force on Sunday afternoon in Colorado.
The win was the second straight for Sacramento State, which improved to 2-2 overall, while the Falcons fell to 0-4. It was the first meeting between the two programs since 2019, the first match played between the two in Colorado since 2010, and the Hornets' first win on Air Force's home field since a 3-0 shutout in 2008.
Sunday's contest started innocently enough before action came to an abrupt halt in the 24th minute as lightning was detected within eight miles of the competition site, putting a stop to play. To that point, the Falcons had taken the first five shots of the match, keeping the ball out of the hands' of the Hornets' offense.
After returning to the field, Sacramento State wasted little time in breaking the scoreless deadlock, finding the back of the net twice in the span of 69 seconds to take a two-goal lead.
Junior Titus Washington was first on the board in the 25th minute as Alejandro Padilla played a long ball down the left side ahead of a sprinting Austin Wehner, who won the foot race to the ball and played a pass across the top of the six-yard box to Washington, who tapped it in with a right foot for the 1-0 lead. It was Washington's first goal in nearly two seasons after missing all of 2022 due to injury, finding the back of the net for the first time since Oct. 16, 2021, against UC San Diego.
In the 27th minute, it was
Dominic Vegaalban's turn, again with some help from Wehner, who shook a defender near the right sideline and chipped a ball into the box where Vegaalban jumped over a diving goalkeeper and tapped in his first goal of the season for a 2-0 advantage.
Wehner's two assists were just one shy of the school's single-match record held by Ryan Walker against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 19, 1993, and he became the first Hornet to notch two assists in a single contest since Vegaalban did so at Cal Poly on Oct. 19 of last season.
Air Force pulled one back nearly four minutes later as a Falcon was taken down in the box near the end line for a penalty. Luke Hill then converted, just beating the Sacramento State keeper — who guessed right — to the left side to make it a one-goal match at the break.
That score didn't last long as the Hornets were lightning quick out of the locker room to start the second half as
Christo Cervantes needed only 2:32 to rebuild the two-goal advantage. Cervantes settled a loose ball at the left side of the box, took a couple of touches to the right, then sniped a bending shot to the upper right corner for the final goal of the contest.
Vegaalban finished with three of his team's 10 shots on the day as Air Force finished with a 14-10 advantage in that category. Six of Sacramento State's 10 attempts were on frame, with another by Vegaalban in the closing seconds finding the crossbar. Goalkeeper
Mac Learned finished with three saves in the victory.
The Hornets remain on the road next week, making the short jaunt to Pacific on Thursday (Sept. 7) for a 7 p.m. kick-off, before heading to Southern California to face Loyola Marymount on Sunday (Sept. 10) in a 4 p.m. start.
