SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Junior Stacy Holmes scored his first career goal to give Sacramento State the early lead and junior Hasan Alsakati put his team ahead for good with a second-half penalty early in the second half on Thursday night, lifting the visiting Hornets to a 2-1 victory over host Santa Clara.
The win was the third straight for Sacramento State, which improved to 3-4 overall on the year. Thursday's victory was a long time coming for the Hornets, who won for only the third time in 23 all-time meetings with the Broncos, won for the first-time ever in Santa Clara in 13 chances, and posted their first victory in the series since a 2-1 triumph in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Santa Clara had its three-match unbeaten streak snapped with the loss, falling to 3-3-1 overall.
Holmes needed only 14 minutes to put his team out front, netting the first goal of his career just four days after posting his first career assist in the 4-2 win at Saint Mary's on Sunday (Sept. 15). Teammate Axel Ramirez slotted a perfectly timed pass between two defenders for Holmes, who stayed onside and won a foot race to the ball near the top of the 18.
With only the goalkeeper to beat, Holmes one-timed a rocket to the right side of the net from about for the 1-0 lead.
For Ramirez, it was his second-straight match with an assist after he was credited with one on the Hornets' fourth and final goal in the victory over the Gaels last weekend.
That lead for the Hornets was short-lived, however, as Santa Clara found the equalizer just three minutes later. The ball ping-ponged through traffic at the top of the box before finding the feet of Tyler Tipton, who found some space and fired a right-footed shot to the left post to tie the match at one apiece.
The score remained that way until the 58th minute when the Broncos were whistled for a foul against Sacramento State's
Zac Giles on the right side of the box, drawing a yellow card for the defender and sending the Hornets to the penalty spot.
There, Alsakati did not miss, collecting his second goal in as many matches with a right-footed shot to the lower right corner for the eventual game-winner.
Senior goalkeeper
Mac Learned and the defense then stood tall, making that one-goal advantage stand for the final 32 minutes en route to the win. Learned finished with four of this five total saves in the match down the stretch as Santa Clara pressed for the tying score by taking eight of the final 11 shot attempts on the night.
The Broncos out-shot the Hornets, 16-10, and finished with eight of the nine corner kicks on the night — all coming up empty. Sophomore
Donovan Sessoms finished with a match-high five shot attempts for Sacramento State.
A run of five-straight matches against West Coast Conference opponents continues on Sunday (Sept. 22) at 4 p.m., as the Hornets host Pacific in only the third home match for Sacramento State this season.
