STOCKTON, Calif. -- Sacramento State juniors Bryan Gutierrez and Dominic Vegaalban put on a show on Thursday night in Stockton, Calif., as the former scored twice in the first 20 minutes and the latter added a historic second-half hat trick to break a 2-2 tie and lift the Hornet men's soccer team to a 5-2 victory over host Pacific at Knoles Field.
The win was the third straight for Sacramento State, which improved to 3-2 overall on the year. It's the longest stretch of victories for the Hornets since winning three straight from Oct. 15-22 of last season and the most goals in a single match since a 5-4 overtime win at CSU Bakersfield on Aug. 31, 2018.
With the loss, the Tigers fell to 2-2-1 overall.
The brace for Gutierrez was the first of his collegiate career, becoming the first Sacramento State player with a multi-goal match since Francisco Magana's hat trick against Gonzaga on Sept. 11 of last year and his first scores since finding the back of the net in back-to-back matches against Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis in 2022.
Not to be outdone, Vegaalban capitalized on a 64th minute red card issued to Pacific's goalkeeper after he came out of the box and tackled Vegaalban on a challenge, putting the Tigers down a man the rest of the way. The Hornet junior wasted little time, burying the ensuing free kick from about 20 yards out, then adding goals in the 69th and 81st minutes.
It is the seventh recorded hat trick in school history and the first since Magana's feat. He joins Ryan Mitchell vs. Pacific in 1992, Jamel Mitchell vs. San Diego in 1994, Martin Sims vs. UNLV in 1994, Jamel Mitchell again against Cal Poly in 1996, and Benji Kikanovic vs. San Francisco in 2019, with hat tricks in the school annals.
In the process, Vegaalban also matched his goal-scoring total from all of 2022 — his first with Sacramento State after transferring from Santa Clara — when he finished with four goals and three assists, while Thursday marked the first time that the Hornets have had two players with multi-goal performances in the same match since Isaac Ikyurav and Max Alvarez did so against Jessup University in an 11-0 rout on Sept. 9, 2011.
Defensively, goalkeeper
Mac Learned tied his career high with eight saves — five of those coming in the first half — matching his performance against Utah Tech in a 1-0 shutout on Aug. 31.
Gutierrez's first goal came just a few ticks of the clock after the seven-minute mark as
Genaro Alfaro sent a corner to the top of the six-yard box where it found the head of Gutierrez, who out-jumped his defender and struck it home to the right side for the 1-0 lead.
The second goal of the night was almost a carbon copy of the first as Alfaro again delivered on a corner to the left side of the six, again finding the head of Gutierrez, who headed it home to the top right side for a 2-0 lead.
Pacific pulled one of the goals back in the 26th minute to make it a one-goal match before the half and then added the equalizer in the 48th minute before Vegaalban took over.
Down a man, the Tigers had little answer for the junior, who bent the free kick following the card to the upper right corner for the eventual game-winner.
Christo Cervantes and
Cody Sundquist then teamed up to find Vegaalban wide open on the right side in the 69th minute and
Zac Giles sent a ball across the top of the six all the way to the right post, where Vegaalban poked it home for the final 5-2 advantage.
The Tigers held a 16-12 advantage in shots and a 10-6 advantage in shots on goal, but the Hornets were able to put five of the latter into the back of the net and had another clang off the post off the foot of
Austin Wehner in the 49th minute.
Sacramento State closes out a run of three straight on the road on Sunday (Sept. 10) at 4 p.m., traveling to Southern California to take on Loyola Marymount.
