NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — Sacramento State senior Austin Wehner scored his fourth goal of the season early in the second half to break a scoreless deadlock, but host CSUN was able to find the late equalizer with just under 10 minutes remaining as the two schools battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in Northridge, Calif.
The draw was the third in Big West Conference play for the Hornets, who moved to 3-7-3 overall and 0-1-3 in league, extending the team's winless streak to eight consecutive matches. The Matadors, meanwhile, moved to 2-6-5 overall and picked up their first point in conference, moving to 0-3-1 in the Big West.
Wehner's goal came just six minutes into the second half as Genaro Alfaro crossed the ball from deep in the corner on the right side to the back post. Wehner met the ball there with his head, deflecting his shot off the post, off the CSUN goalkeeper, and in for the 1-0 lead.
Now with four goals and four assists on the season, Wehner extended his team-high point total to 12, surpassing the 11 points he had as a junior in 2022, while his 23 career points in the green and gold match Francisco Magana for the most among active Sacramento State players.
Alfaro's assist was his third of the year, putting him one back of Wehner and Cody Sundquist for the team lead. His three assists this year ties his total from all of 2022 and give him eight for his career — the most among active Hornets.
That advantage stood until the 81st minute when the Matadors' AJ Johson was able to come up with the tying goal, converting passes from Michael Arrington and Jamar Ricketts for his first of the year.
CSUN had three of the final four shots on the night with both goalkeepers coming up with big saves to turn away the tying goal. Wehner was denied the brace in the 85th minute while Mac Learned made his sixth and final save of the night with a dive to his right to push away Jorge Solorzano's attempt from distance in the 86th minute.
Saturday marked the fourth consecutive match with at least five saves for Learned, who now has 73 stops on the year to add on to his nation-leading total, and marked the 10th time in 12 appearances that the junior has stopped at least five shots in a match this year.
The Matadors finished with an 11-8 advantage in shots — including a 7-4 lead in shots on goal — while the Hornets finished with seven corner kicks on the night. Wehner accounted for a match-high three of the team's 11 attempts, while Titus Washington tacked on a pair.
Sacramento State returns home for a pair next week, welcoming Cal Poly on Wednesday (Oct. 11) before league-leading Cal State Fullerton pays a visit on Saturday (Oct. 14). Both matches are scheduled to kick-off at 4 p.m. at Hornet Soccer Field.
