CARSON, Calif. – A golden goal by Jacob Johnston in the 106th minute put the Cal State San Marcos men’s soccer team over Cal State Dominguez Hills by a score of 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Toro Stadium.
TOP PERFORMERS
Juan Camilo Salazar – 1 goal | 3 shots | 2 shots on goal
John Williamson – 1 goal | 2 shots on goal
Jacob Johnston – 1 goal | 2 shots | 1 shot on goal
Jorge Martinez – 1 assist | 2 shots
Mauro Rafael – 1 assist
Parker Hodges – 1 assist | 1 shot
Brian Chung – 1 assist
Matt Escareno – 10 saves
HOW IT HAPPENED •Rafael sent a pass to Hodges down the right sideline. Sprinting into the box, Hodges sent a cross to his left to Salazar, who proceeded to take a shot off the inside of his left foot. His shot went into the top left corner of the goal after deflecting off the CSUDH keeper in the 52nd minute.
•The Toros knotted things up at 1-1 in the 53rd minute. Taking the ball all the way down to the end line, Steven Espinoza passed it just in front of the goal to Alberto Carrillo. Off the back of his right foot, Carrillo put ball into the center of the goal.
•The Cougars retook the lead at 2-1 in the 60th minute. Martinez made a long pass to Williamson down the left side past five defenders. With just the keeper to beat, Williamson’s shot went off the inside of the right post and into the center of the net.
•CSUDH put up the equalizer in the 74th minute. After battling for possession in the box, Joshua Varon passed out of the box to Cesar Coronado. Coronado sent a cross from the left side to Espinoza, who proceeded to net a shot from just in front of the keeper.
•After receiving a pass from Chung, Johnston took a shot from just inside the box on the right side. The shot went into the bottom left corner of the goal and clinched the victory for CSUSM in the 106th minute.
QUICK KICKS •CSUSM ends the regular season at 6-8-2 (4-4-2 CCAA) while CSUDH drops to 4-9-1
(3-6 CCAA).
•This was the Cougars’ first-ever win at Toro Stadium, and it was CSUSM’s second consecutive victory against CSUDH.
•The Toros outshot the Cougars 25-15 and had a 12-7 advantage for shots on goal.
•CSUDH took five corner kicks to CSUSM’s three.
•Escareno made a career-high 10 saves for the Cougars.
•With his team-leading sixth goal, Salazar matched former Cougar Louie Farfan for the most single-season goals in the NCAA era (2015-present).
•CSUSM ends conference play with a .500 record for the second time since joining the CCAA.
THOUGHTS FROM CSUSM HEAD COACH RON PULVERS
“We made it extremely difficult on ourselves by letting Dominguez Hills back into the game twice and then going down a man. The guys worked tirelessly and showed some real toughness and grit. I’m super proud of their character and will to see the match out.”
UP NEXT
With its regular-season complete, CSUSM will now have to wait and see if its points per match average of 1.4 will be good enough to qualify for the CCAA Tournament beginning on Nov. 12.
