SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Visiting UC Irvine scored twice in the first half to jump out to a early lead and stifled the Sacramento State offense at the other end of the field on Saturday evening as the Anteaters put the wraps on the Hornets with a 3-0 win at Hornet Soccer Field.
Sacramento State fell to 4-8-2 overall and 0-2-2 in The Big West, while UC Irvine won its sixth straight match in the series while improving to 8-5-2 overall and 3-1-1 in league play.
The Anteaters took the early lead with a goal by leading scorer in the 16th minute for his seventh of the year, while James Arteaga added his second in the 40th minute to stake their team to a 2-0 lead at the break. Pierce Rizzo netted his first of the year in the 64th minute to cap the scoring.
Hiroshi Yang,
Sean Battistessa, and
Ronan Rattigan each had shot attempts on the day, but those were the only three that the Hornets would unleash for the match.
Senior goalkeeper
Lucas Bost stopped three shots in net in 74 minutes while
AJ Bengds made his Hornet debut and stopped a shot late in the match for his first in the green and gold.
Sacramento State plays its final Pac-12 crossover match with a trip to Corvallis, Ore., to take on nationally ranked Oregon State on Wednesday (Oct. 21), before heading to Southern California for a Saturday clash at CSUN on Saturday (Oct. 24).
