SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Freshman Ethan Kelly netted his second goal of the season off a pass from Montgomery Carey to stake Sacramento State to an early lead, but visiting Pacific converted on a penalty early in the second half and the two teams battled it out to a 1-1 draw on Sunday evening at Hornet Soccer Field.
The Hornets' unbeaten streak is now at four consecutive matches as they moved to 3-4-1 overall on the year — including a 3-0-1 record during their recent run. It is the longest such streak for Sacramento State since it was unbeaten in seven straight (5-0-2) from Aug. 28-Sept. 18, 2022.
The Tigers had their record evened at 2-2-2 overall and are winless in their last three (0-1-2).
Kelly and Carey teamed up to put Sacramento State in front a mere 17 seconds after entering the match as Carey dispossessed a Pacific player near midfield and sent Kelly on a run. When Carey regained his feet, Kelly one-touched a pass to his teammate into open space between three Tiger defenders on the right side of the box.
Carey took a touch and sent a pass back across the box where Kelly was waiting at the back post to left-foot a shot just inside a wide open net for the 1-0 lead.
It was Kelly's first goal since scoring against San Jose State back on Sept. 1, and the second assist for the year for Carey, who tallied his first career point against Saint Mary's on Sept. 15.
The score remained that way through the remainder of the first half and the first 15 of the second half before Pacific was able to take advantage of a miscue inside the box to tie the match. A Sacramento State defender was whistled for a handball inside the box on the left side, sending the Tigers to the spot.
Luca Baltzer converted on the attempt, sending his attempt to the lower left corner to make it a 1-1 contest.
The Hornets turned up the heat in the final 15 minutes looking to break the tie, but Pacific goalkeeper Josh Moya was up to the task, denying
Zac Giles in the 82nd minute, then coming off his line to smother a 1-v-1 attempt by
Ali Sasankhah in the 85th minute to preserve the draw.
Giles and
Vincent Padilla had chances sail just wide in the 87th minute and Giles had another attempt corralled by Moya in the 89th minute. Sophomore
Robert Willcot also had a chance with less than 20 seconds remaining, but the shot went high.
Sacramento State out-shot Pacific, 13-12, for the match as each team put five shots on goal for the contest. Senior goalkeeper
Mac Learned finished with four saves and helped the defense successfully defend eight corner opportunities by the Tigers.
The Hornets look to complete their unbeaten run against the West Coast Conference in their non-conference finale on Friday (Sept. 27) at 5 p.m., as they travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on Portland.
