SPOKANE, Wash. -- Freshman Simon Vaca-Lorenzi scored his first career goal off an assist from teammate Christo Cervantes right before the end of the first half, but that would be the lone tally for the Sacramento State men's soccer team on the night as host Gonzaga cruised to a 5-1 victory on Sunday night at Luger Field in Spokane, Wash.
The loss dropped the Hornets to 0-2 overall on the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 2-0.
Gonzaga was the first on the scoreboard in the 10th minute and added another in the 35th minute for a quick 2-0 lead midway through the first half before Cervantes and Vaca-Lorenzi teamed up to halve the deficit.
Cervantes threaded a pass between two defenders and found the feet of Vaca-Lorenzi making a run down the middle. The freshman then took a touch to evade the goalkeeper coming off his line then got around the ball to poke a right-footed shot past a lunging defender on the line to make it a 2-1 contest heading into the break.
The Bulldogs wasted little time in getting the goal back, needing only 37 ticks of the clock in the second half to make it 3-1, then added scores in the 50th and 61st minutes to cap the scoring as the Hornets played the final 32 minutes a man down following a red card in the 58th minute.
Gonzaga held an 18-13 shot advantage with Vaca-Lorenzi and
Bryan Gutierrez taking three attempts apiece for Sacramento State. Nine different Hornets finished with attempts on the night.
Sacramento State looks to turn things around with its home opener on Thursday (Aug. 31), hosting Utah Tech in its home opener at 5 p.m. The match is the second of a doubleheader with the Hornets' women's team, which hosts UC Riverside at 2 p.m.
