MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's men's soccer team will start a two game homestand this Thursday as they take on Big West member UC Davis followed by the Hornets of Sacramento State Sunday evening. The Gaels had their back against the wall this past weekend after a pair of red cards in Thursday's matchup against Boston but were still able to pull off a pair of draws on the weekend to improve their record to 1-2-2. Head coach
Adam Cooper swept these matchups last season with a 3-2 win over Sacramento State and a shutout victory over UC Davis and will look to do the same as they seek their second and third victories of the season.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
GAELS RECAP
Saint Mary's traveled to the east coast last week for a pair of road matches with Boston University and Dartmouth. The Gaels took on the Terriers for the first time in program history and battled them to a 1-1 draw.
David Christensen got the Gaels on the board first with his first collegiate goal in the 41st minute. Outside back
Luke Lawrence played a beautiful cut back ball to the top of the box that allowed Christensen to collect and put his right foot through it into the bottom corner. Lawrence now leads the team with two assists on the season with the other coming against 13th ranked Stanford the week prior. BU would equalize in the 72nd minute and then the game would turn on its head with a pair of SMC red cards late in the second half.
Sam Bentley was virtually untested in goal though as the Gaels held on for the 1-1 draw and Bentley only faced six shots on the night.
On Sunday, they would battle Dartmouth in a return game from the 2023 season where the Gaels came from behind to win 2-1 in their first ever meeting. This year, Saint Mary's would go down 2-0 in the first half but claw their way back into the match with two second half goals to end in a 2-2 draw. Captain
Bastian Toelhoej converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute to make it a one goal game and then outside back
Ian Smith scored his first collegiate goal off a cross from
Jude Zamora in the 83rd minute.
Head coach
Adam Cooper and his group were really put up against a wall that weekend after the two red cards on Thursday and responded in a big way with a pair of draws to some quality east coast opponents. Toelhoej finished the weekend with a pair of 90-minute performances and led the Gaels in the 2-2 draw with a goal and an assist to be named the departments Shamrock Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time in his SMC career.
Saint Mary's was forced to use their bench more than they have in previous games but got great production to earn a pair of points on the weekend. The Gaels have combined for 25 wins in both series histories and will look for their third straight win over UC Davis on Thursday dating back to the 2022 season.
ABOUT UC DAVIS (Big West Conference)
UC Davis is coming off of one of their deeper postseason runs in recent years after falling in the Big West championship game last season to UC Irvine, 8-7 in penalties. They finished the 2023 season with a 9-7-4 overall record and were 4-4-2 in conference play for a top four league finish. The Aggies welcome back as many as 20 returners for the 2024 season and are off to a solid start with a 2-1-1 overall record. Their two victories have come in their last two matches which featured a 2-1 win over Santa Clara and an impressive one goal road victory over Oregon State last weekend.
Cason Goodman was the team's lone All-Big West Preseason selection after leading the team with seven goals and three assists to earn All-Big West Second Team honors in 2023. The Aggies were picked to finish fourth in the preseason poll and will seek their first win over the Gaels since the 2021 season. At the helm of the program is long term head coach Dwayne Shaffer who enters his 28th year and at his side is fellow Division II graduate Jason Hotaling who enters his 20th year with the program. The duo may come from rival colleges in the DII realm with Shaffer attending Chico State and Hotaling a Sonoma State alum, but they have developed an impressive footprint across the Central Valley and have the program on the rise in recent years. They will seek their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019 when they fell in the first round to ACC member Louisville.
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE (Big West Conference)
Saint Mary's will take on their third Big West opponent of the season on Sunday in Sacramento State. The Hornets have been on a tough stretch the previous two seasons as they finished dead last in conference play in 2023 and are off to a winless start here in 2024. Their last postseason appearance came in 2022 where Sacramento State was the 6th seed in the conference tournament and fell in the first round to UC Irvine. This season, the Hornets have been outscored 7-2 and have fallen to Utah Valley, Cal, San Jose State and San Diego State. They will take on WCC member San Francisco at home on Thursday before traveling to Moraga on Sunday.
Sacramento State returns 13 letter winners and five starters off of last season's squad. There are a lot of new faces to get to know for 2024 as half (14) of the team's 28-man roster are new to the program. The Hornets are led by Michael Linenberger who enters his 35th season with the program after taking over in 1992. During his tenure, Linenberger has been named conference coach of the year four times with his most recent coming in 2014, just two years after joining the Big West. He has gotten the Hornets to two NCAA Tournaments but has not reached the national stage since 2010. Saint Mary's has bested Sacramento State in five of their last six meetings but the Hornets will look to win their first match over the Gaels since 2022.
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