SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Freshman Sean Battistessa tallied only the eighth recorded hat trick in school history, while sophomore Donovan Sessoms and freshman Hiroshi Yang added scores on the day, muscling the Sacramento State men's soccer team past visiting CSUN, 5-0, on Wednesday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.
The Hornets improved to 5-7-2 overall and 2-3 in Big West Conference play, posting their first victory over the Matadors since 2019 and tying the mark for the most goals scored by either team in the history of the series dating back to 1988.
CSUN is now winless in its last six matches (0-3-3), falling to 2-6-5 overall and 0-3-2 in league play.
Sacramento State's five goals are a season high, surpassing the four scored in a 4-2 victory at Saint Mary's on Sept. 15, and the most goals in a match since the Hornets defeated Pacific, 5-2, on the road on Sept. 7 of last season.
Four of Sacramento State's goals came in the first half on Wednesday, the first time the Hornets have scored four in a half since a 5-1 win against Cal Poly on Oct. 21, 2017, while the five-goal margin of victory was the program's largest — and the largest shutout victory — since an 8-0 win against Loyola Marymount on Nov. 3, 1993.
Meanwhile, Battistessa etched his name into the record books with his hat trick, posting the first by a Hornet since Dominic Vegaalban in that win over Pacific last season and joining former Sacramento State standouts Ryan Mitchell (1992 vs. Pacific), Jamel Mitchell (1994 vs. San Diego and 1996 vs. Cal Poly), Martin Sims (1994 at UNLV), Benji Kikanovic (2019 vs. San Francisco), and Francisco Magana (2022 vs. Gonzaga), with three goals in a match.
The Hornets scored twice in a five-minute span to start the match as Sessoms' opener just six minutes in was his sixth of the year — the most by a Hornet since Christian Webb had six in 2017 — and gave his side a 1-0 lead.
Ali Sasankhah hit a streaking
Jhared Willcot with a through ball down the right side before Willcot cut a pass into the box where Sessoms buried it from six yards out for the lead.
The assists marked the first points of the year for both Sasankhah and Willcot, the latter posting his first point since collecting an assist against UC Davis on Oct. 30, 2021.
Five minutes later, it was Yang with his first career score to double the lead, taking advantage of a handball by the CSUN defense near the top of the 18. Facing a five-man wall, Yang tucked a left-footed bender just under the crossbar and out of reach of the Matador goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
From that point on, it was all Battistessa. The Fair Oaks, Calif., native netted his first of the day — and second of the year — by taking advantage of an errant pass back by the CSUN defense, beating the goalkeeper 1-v-1 to the lower right side to make it 3-0 in 23rd minute.
Eleven minutes later, he gave the Hornets a four-goal lead in the 34th minute as sophomore
Zac Giles punted a ball that cleared the Matador backline, allowing Battistessa to run onto the ball and chip the goalkeeper to the right side for a 4-0 lead at the break.
Battistessa then wrapped up the day by completing the hat trick in the 57th minute as freshman
Angad Singh fed a pass to
Vincent Padilla down the left side. Padilla turned into the box and set a low ball inside for Battistessa, who one-timed a right foot into the left side for the final 5-0 tally.
For Giles, it was his team-high fourth assist, while Padilla notched his second of the year and Singh tallied his first collegiate point.
Sacramento State put nine of its 15 shot attempts on goal for the match, led by Battistessa's three on four total attempts. The four shots shared match-high honors.
Wednesday's victory gave the Hornets momentum heading into Saturday's 3 p.m. kick-off against league-leading UC Santa Barbara, which is receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll.
