Mar. 21st, 2004 - No. 4 Sonoma State earns comeback victory over No. 9 Colorado
By Brian Hanson
WCLL Correspondent
ROHNERT PARK, CA - If a team expects to beat Sonoma State, it must keep the Seawolves' goal-runs to a minimum. Colorado seemed to have the winning recipe-for three quarters.
Chris Esposito scored twice during a five-goal run in the decisive fourth quarter to lead Sonoma to an 8-5 win over the Colorado Buffaloes before 210 sun-soaked fans. The win improves the Seawolves' record to 6-2, while CU drops to 5-1.
"One of the things that makes us successful is our ability to sustain a run," said Sonoma State coach Doug Carl. "That is what happened in the fourth quarter. If you leave someone open, we're going to find them."
Sophomore Jason Anderson was Colorado's open player in the first period. He scored twice, with the assists going to Scott Cadiz and Chris Bok.
Trailing 2-0, Sonoma would answer in the second. At 13:38, Daniel McDonald scored off an assist from Brian Alexander. Just over three minutes later, Brian Johnson picked up a loose ball near the substitution box, raced in, dodged a defender, and beat first-team All-USL MDIA goaltender Chris Bluse (9 saves) to tie the game at 2s.
Colorado took the lead again on Brandon Bailey's left-handed shot, assisted by Anderson. Sonoma's Brent Johnson tallied at 3:28 on a man-up goal, sending the teams to the break tied at 3-3.
This game was physical from the get-go. Both defenses were pressuring and limiting good scoring opportunities. The groundball battles were intense, with most skirmishes ending with at least one player on the ground.
"This game was a great battle," said Esposito. "We knew from the beginning it was going to be a fight. This was a lot of fun."
The Buffaloes held a 5-3 lead heading into the final quarter. As the team cranked out 12 third-quarter shots, Brian Morgan and Andrew Upah hit the net for Colorado, and CU seemed to be on the verge of an upset.
Dominic Gomez, Sonoma's outstanding goaltender, was the difference between the Seawolves hanging around and an almost sure win for the Buffaloes. He had 6 saves in the third on his way to a 15-save game.
Colorado senior Michael Gerhard had been in control of the face-offs. His dominance through the third period, winning 7 of 9, had helped his team keep the make-it-take-it goal-producing runs away from the Seawolves.
The fourth quarter would prove to be different.
Carl had Pete Langkammerer, Bennie Cannis, and usual face-off warrior JD Hamann rotate in their battle with Gerhard and John Stringi. The move paid off, with Sonoma winning 5-of-the-6 draws that would pave the way for their game-deciding run.
Esposito's back-to-back goals tied the game at 5-5 with 9:54 remaining in the game. His second goal, off an assist from McDonald, was a blast from up top that that zipped past Bluse's right shoulder.
"I was glad I could contribute those two goals that put us back to a tie," said Esposito. "But I give most of the credit to the defense. They held strong, only giving up five goals, and they kept faith in the offense to come through in the end."
Come through they did. With the score tied, Brian Cummings drove the middle and dumped to Brent Johnson for a left-handed goal. The tally gave Sonoma their first lead of the game at 7:23 in the fourth. Johnson added his second assist of the run when he found a wide-open Mark Arjam to give the Seawolves a cushion at 7-5. McDonald finished off the Buffaloes when he swooped in off the right wing and buried a left-handed shot down low to give Sonoma their final margin of victory.
"This was definitely a hard-fought game," said first-year Colorado coach John Galvin Jr. "I thought the fourth quarter they came out strong and got a couple of good transition goals. We just didn't have an answer."
Johnson, the former middie, is settling into his new position on the attack. He was instrumental in the fourth-quarter run with a goal and two assists.
" We like going on our runs," said Johnson, a senior from Texas. "That is Sonoma style. The offense does a good job in finding the open man.
"Our team is based on faith. We know that when we get down by a couple goals, we can pull it out. We play team ball. We have faith in everybody."
Scoring report:
CU: 2 - 1 - 2 - 0 = 5
SSU: 0 - 3 - 0 - 5 = 8
CU: Anderson 2g 1a, Cadiz 1a, Bailey 1g, Morgan 1g, Upah 1g
SSU: McDonald 2g 1a, Alexander 1g, Brian Johnson 1g, Brent Johnson 2g 2a, Esposito 2g, Cummings 1a, Arjam 1g
Shots: CU 32, SSU 34
Saves: CU 9 (Bluse), SSU 15 (Gomez)
Face-offs: CU 8/15
Man-up: CU 1-3, SSU 1-6