Yellowjackets Tie Cal State-Stanislaus in Season Opener (August 28, 2003)

ARCATA, CA – The defense lived up to its billing for the MSU Billings men’s soccer team Thursday afternoon as the Yellowjackets played Cal State-Stanislaus to a 1-1 double overtime tie at the Humboldt State Tournament.  It was the season opener for both teams.

The Yellowjackets drew first blood when Lucas Sanchez (Sr., MF, Park City, UT) scored at the 34 minute mark.  Thomas Pertuit (Jr., MF, Billings, MT) and Dustin Kono (So., F, Aberdeen, SD) assisted on the play, pushing the ball to the endline where Sanchez cut it back for the score. 

“You could tell it was our first game of the season,” said head coach Doug Seigle.  “For about the first thirty minutes we were running around crazy, not doing the things we needed to do.  After that we settled down and started to play well.”

Whoever coined the phrase, “A tie is like kissing your sister” never meant for it to apply to a 1-1 slugfest like this.  The teams combined for 34 fouls and six yellow cards.  “It was a physical, physical, physical game,” said Seigle.  “We had a couple injuries in the second half and kind of got into a panic mode when we had to have players come out of the game.  That’s when they (CSUS) scored their goal.  Not to take anything away from Stanislaus, but their best opportunities came off our mistakes.  If we eliminate those mistakes, we probably win the game.”

The Warriors’ Tony Amaral scored at 62 minutes, beating goalkeeper Yacine Zerizef (So., GK, Casper, WY) one-on-one after CSU-Stanislaus was able to make a long clear.  That tied the game, and the score remained 1-1 until the end of regulation.  Brian Palmer (Jr., F, Laramie, WY) almost broke the tie late in the second half, but his shot was just high, hitting the crossbar.  The Yellowjackets had another chance to win the game in the first OT when A.J. Reyes (Fr., MF, Quartz Hill, CA) hit the crossbar with a potential game-winner. 

With just 27 seconds remaining in the second overtime, CSU-Stanislaus’s Dennis Wolfe found the back of the net with an apparent game-winning goal.  However, Wolfe was immediately called for a handball and the goal was waived off, leaving the game in a tie. 

The Warriors out-shot the Yellowjackets 16-10 in the game and 4-1 in overtime.  Zerizef registered four saves while playing all 120 minutes.  The Jackets will face host Humboldt State Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.  They will then have the weekend off before taking on Humboldt State again on Monday.