SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior Ali Sasankhah scored his first of the year to level the match and freshman Sean Battistessa netted his fifth of the season to give the Hornets the lead just nine minutes later, but UC Davis finished the day with three unanswered scores, lifting the Aggies to a 4-2 win over Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon.
The match ended the Hornets' postseason hopes as Sacramento State ended the year at 6-10-2 overall and 3-6 in Big West Conference play. Meanwhile, the Aggies clinched a berth in the Big West Conference Tournament with the win, moving to 8-5-5 overall and 4-3-2 in league play.
After UC Davis broke the seal with Cason Goodman's eighth goal of the season just 77 seconds into the match before the Hornets responded to take the lead.
Celebrating "Senior Day" earlier in the day, Sasankhah converted from the penalty spot for his first goal of the season after teammate Axel Ramirez was taken down in the box near the endline on the right side, drawing a foul and a penalty opportunity from the referee in the eighth minute.
Nine minutes later, it was the Hornets' turn to take the lead as Battistessa put home his fifth in the 17th minute. His initial header off a corner from
Gio Ceja was cleared off the line by an Aggie defender, but it went right back to Ceja just outside the box on the right side.
His volley back into the box had Battistessa climbing the ladder, out-leaping the UC Davis defense to head home the goal to the upper right corner for a 2-1 advantage.
Cason Goodman responded in the 26th minute as the first shot by the Aggies clanged the right post, a rebound at the top of the six-yard box was saved by goalkeeper
Mac Learned, but the Hornets could not clear it away. The ball fell to Goodman, who powered a shot back toward the net that took a pair of deflections off players in traffic and rolled in to level the match.
UC Davis then took the lead for good in the 35th minute as Carson Hammond sniped a shot that looked like a cross, but the ball stayed true and found the upper left corner for the eventual game-winner. The Aggies added their final goal in the 56th minute as Scott Buie gave his team some breathing room with his first of the year for the final 4-2 score.
Battistessa finished with five of his team's 13 shot attempts on the day, putting three on goal while playing all 90 minutes.
Zac Giles added three shots as well. Both Learned and Noah Schwengeler for UC Davis finished with five saves in net.
Gallery: (11-2-2024) MSOC Senior Day 2024
