BOX SCORE
SEASIDE, Calif. — Playing with the tempo and intensity one would expect late in the season with playoff hopes on the line, Sonoma State scored four minutes from time to take an entertaining California Collegiate Athletic Association opener from Cal State Monterey Bay 4–3 Friday afternoon at the Otter Sports Complex.

CSUMB (0–2, 0–1 CCAA) got goals from Servando Perez, Max Brixey and George Plakorus, but that wasn't enough to offset braces by Sonoma's Taylor Varnadore and Aaron Glover.

Sonoma (2–1, 1–0) crawled out of an early 2–0 hole to take a 3–2 lead by halftime. But Plakorus' strike in the 53rd minute leveled the scoreline and put both teams on a collision course with overtime.

Fate had other ideas, however, and a fortunate bounce late in regulation gave the Seawolves the win. Aaron Glover took a short feed from Michael Arroyo and drove the right wing. Without much of an angle with which to work, he let a shot fly from 20 yards. But the rising shot deflected off the shin of an Otter defender, creating enough topspin to carry over CSUMB goalkeeper Cory Calder and dip just under the crossbar for what proved to be the match winner.

“We didn't get the bounces and today it just wasn't meant to be,” said CSUMB Head Coach Rob Cummings. “But it's a long season and there's a lot of soccer left to be played. We still have 13 conference matches to go.”

The Otters jumped on top early, scoring twice in less than three minutes before the match was 11 minutes old. Perez opened the scoring by bundling home and Andrew Breault helper from the doorstep in the ninth minute. Just 144 seconds later, Brixey scored with a similar effort to put CSUMB up 2–0 at the 10:59 mark.

“I was a little nervous when we went up 2–0 actually,” said Cummings. “They say a 2–0 lead is the most dangerous lead in soccer and you're not going to keep a great team like (Sonoma) down forever.”

Varnadore opened the scoring for the Seawolves 10 minutes later, beating Calder to a through ball and finishing easily to halve the Otter advantage. Less than four minutes later, the ball found Glover's feet at the far post and he tapped home the equalizer.

The third goal was all Varnadore as he took a short feed 40 yards from goal, dribbled around and through a trio of Otter defenders and beat Calder from the middle right of the penalty area.

But Plakorus brought the Otters back into the match eight minutes after the restart. A rapid Otter build up got Plakorus the ball in the upper left corner of the penalty area and his precision finish left Seawolf goalkeeper Beau Diaz no chance.

CSUMB gets the weekend off with Sunday's scheduled match versus Humboldt State cancelled due to a hazing incident on the Humboldt campus. The Otters return to action Friday, Sept. 14 at Chico State.