IRVINE, Calif. — Sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms scored his team-high 10th goal of the season to bring his team level midway through the first half, but UC Irvine scored a trio of short-handed goals in handing the Hornets a 3-1 defeat on Saturday night at Anteater Stadium.
The loss dropped Sacramento State to 6-9-2 overall and 3-5 in Big West Conference play, while the Anteaters improved to 7-7-2 overall and 4-3-1 in league matches.
Sessoms' season goal total etches his name into the Hornet record books as his 10 goals are tied with former Sacramento State standouts Max Alvarez (2009) and Jamel Mitchell (1996) for ninth on the school's single-season scoring list. The 10 goals are also the most since Chris Bettencourt finished with 11 in 2010 — a total that ranks eighth on the single-season list.
With 20 points to his name, Sessoms now has the most points by a Hornet since Alvarez finished with 23 points in 2009 — which ranks 10th on the school's single-season list.
Host UC Irvine played a man down from the 24th minute on after Sacramento State freshman Sean Battistessa was caught in the face by a high kick from an Anteater, drawing a straight red card to put the host side a man down.
That didn't seem to stop UC Irvine, which opened the scoring in the 27th minute on a goal by leading scorer Agaton Pourshahidi for the early 1-0 lead.
Sesssoms' strike followed eight minutes later as Sasankhah threaded a pass to the top of the 18 for Sessoms, who took a touch and fired a left-footed shot through traffic to the right side to level the match at one apiece. Sasankhah logged his second assist of the year on the play while Alsakati, who had the initial pass, posted his first to go along with his two goals on the season.
From that point on, it was all Anteaters. UC Irvine took the lead for good in the 40th minute on a put-back goal by Danny de Lorijn following an initial shot that rang off the left post. It was originally ruled no goal due to an offside call, but was reversed upon review.
The Anteaters then tacked on a third in the 59th minute as Miseal Gonzalez tucked a score inside the left post for the final 3-1 score.
Sacramento State held a 16-13 lead in shots, including putting seven of those attempts on goal compared to six for UC Irvine. A week after collecting a season-high eight shots in his hat trick against UC Santa Barbara at home, Sessoms accounted for seven of the Hornets' attempts, putting four of those on goal.
The Hornets close out the regular season at home on Saturday (Nov. 2) at 3 p.m., welcoming Causeway rival UC Davis to Hornet Soccer Field. The Sacramento State senior class will be honored as part of "Senior Day" activities prior to kick-off at approximately 2:45 p.m.
