BERKELEY, Calif. — Senior Axel Ramirez finished with five shots on the day and senior goalkeeper Mac Learned stopped six of the seven attempts sent his way on Sunday afternoon, but a goal in the 55th minute by California's Mota Giancarlo was enough to lift the host Golden Bears to a 1-0 victory over Sacramento State at Edwards Stadium.
The Hornets, who outshot their hosts by a 13-11 count for the match, fell to 0-2 overall on the year, while California evened its record at 1-1 overall.
A pass from the right side started the sequence on the winning goal for the Golden Bears as Kai Djerbaka sent a ball through traffic that was deflected back by Nonso Adumabua to an unmarked Mota, who calmly settled and finished to the left post with his right foot for the only score of the day.
The two teams played through a scoreless first 45 minutes with Learned making five of his six saves on the day in the opening half to keep California off the board — four of those coming in the first 21 minutes of play — as the Golden Bears controlled the majority of the possession in the period.
Meanwhile, Ramirez had the first scoring attempt of the day in the eighth minute, forcing California keeper Marco Brougher into a save, and freshman Ethan Kelly had another attempt turned away by Brougher in the 25th minute.
Sacramento State pressed forward to start the second half with two quick attempts before the Golden Bear goal as Ramirez had an attempt blocked away by the defense and Bryan Gutierrez had his shot in the 51st minute stopped by Brougher.
Gutierrez came inches away from tying the match in the 67th minute after a throw-in as his spinning shot found its way through traffic and got behind the Golden Bear goalkeeper, only to have the ball catch the inside of the right post and cleared away by a California defender before it had a chance to spin across the line.
The five attempts by Ramirez tied his career high set at Western Michigan on Sept. 24, 2021, and were the most since Hasan Alsakati had the same number against UC San Diego on Sept. 30 of last year.
Sacramento State returns to action in a week's time, making a return trip to the Bay Area to take on San Jose State on Sunday (Sept. 1) at 6 p.m.
