SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior forward Mackenzie Pridham became the first Cal Poly men’s soccer player in 16 years to reach the 10-goal plateau in a single season on Saturday evening, but Sacramento State junior midfielder Gabe Silveira struck three minutes from time at Alex G. Spanos Stadium to hand the Hornets a 3-2 victory.

With Cal Poly (9-6-1, 4-3-1) trailing 2-1 into the 66th minute, Pridham received a pass from junior midfielder Mike Hocker inside the penalty area and held his defender up before turning and firing the equalizing strike into the bottom left corner of the Hornet net. With the effort, Pridham became just the third Mustang in program history and first since Clay Harty (1996) to reach 10 goals in one season.

At the other end of Spanos Stadium, the Mustang defense kept Sacramento State (8-6-2, 5-2-1) without a shot attempt for a 29-minute span during the second half. However, Mustang freshman goalkeeper Wade Hamilton – who registered eight saves – stopped senior midfielder Alex Lopez in the 83rd minute before Silveira found the matcher winner during the 88th, streaking down the left flank before sliding an attempt past the left post.  

The loss kept Cal Poly on 13 points in the Big West Conference North Division standings. With two matches remaining in the regular season, the Mustangs trail new division leader Sacramento State by three points and UC Davis (7-5-4, 5-2-0) by two. No. 25 UC Santa Barbara (9-4-3, 3-3-1), which hosts UC Davis on Sunday at 2 p.m., sits bottom on 10 points.

Sacramento State grabbed the initial lead through junior forward Isaac Ikyurav’s fifth-minute goal. The Mustangs, however, notched their first equalizing goal nine minutes from the break, as junior forward Ronald Medrano Williams scored his first collegiate goal on a deflected effort. Hocker, Cal Poly’s leader with five assists, was credited with his first of the evening.  

Sacramento State, held to just five shot attempts during the second half, grabbed a 2-1 lead in the 49th minute as a deflected pass off a Mustang defender in the Cal Poly penalty was whistled. Hornet senior forward Max Alvarez stepped to the penalty spot and fired low to the left while Hamilton dove in the opposite direction.

Cal Poly, whistled offside three times, returns to action when visiting UC Davis on Wednesday, Oct. 31 at 2 p.m.

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