OREM, Utah — The Sacramento State men's soccer team went toe-to-toe with league-leading Utah Valley through the first 58 minutes, but a three-goal flurry in the second half was enough to push the homestanding Wolverines to a 3-0 win over the Hornets on a blustery Saturday evening at UCCU Stadium in Orem, Utah.
After going unbeaten in four straight, Sacramento State is now winless in its last three, falling to 3-7-2 overall and 0-1-2 in Big West play. Utah Valley moved to 7-1-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big West with the result.
The Hornets put four of their seven shot attempts on frame, but were outgunned by the Wolverines, who attempted 18 shots overall and put seven on goal alone en route to the victory.
Junior
Sean Battistessa had a good look in the eighth minute, volleying a one-timer off a cross by
Zac Giles from point-blank range that was turned away by the Utah Valley goalkeeper, and
Hiroshi Yang forced another big save out of the Wolverine keeper in the 18th minute, trying to curl a left-footed shot off a free kick to the left post for a pair of early chances for the visiting side.
Giles then had another look on a counter in the final mine, using his speed to curl toward the top of the box and unleashing a shot from about 20 yards out that just missed the upper right side of the net.
After a scoreless 45 minutes, Giles had an early attempt through traffic turned away in the first minute of the season period, but it was the Wolverines who were able to break the scoreless deadlock on a goal by Noah Pogue, who headed home a corner for the 1-0 lead in the 59th minute. It remained a one-goal contest until the final 10 minutes of the match when Oliver Watts and Jose Luis Martin Montealegre scored in the 80th and 87th minutes to cap the night.
Utah Valley out-shot Sacramento State, 18-7 overall and owned a 12-3 advantage in the second half alone while attempting 11 of the match's 12 corners. Yang and Giles combined for four of the team's seven shots, attempting two each, while goalkeeper
Lucas Bost finished with four saves on the night.
The Hornets are home for their next two matches next week, hosting UC San Diego in a Pac-12 crossover match on Wednesday (Oct. 14) at 4 p.m., before welcoming Big West rival UC Irvine for the second half of a doubleheader on Saturday (Oct. 17) at 4 p.m.
