Box Score SACRAMENTO, Calif. - University of Denver men's soccer freshman forward Christian Volesky (Henderson, Nev.) gave the Pioneers an early lead, but Sacramento State stormed back for a 2-1 victory on Friday night.
With the win, the Hornets (7-6-1, 3-3-0 MPSF) jumped past the Pioneers (4-7-3, 2-3-2 MPSF) in the seeding for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament at CIBER Field on Nov. 10-13.
"I'm disappointed in the team's performance," head coach Bobby Muuss said. "Everyone, including me, could have done a better job tonight, and a good Sacramento State team outplayed us. We need to refocus and come out strong on Sunday at San Jose State."
Volesky scored his third goal in the past two matches to kick off the scoring in the third minute, beating Hornets keeper Oliver Bryan one-on-one for his sixth goal of the season.
The Hornets equalized in the 25th minute, as Max Alvarez played a short pass to Almog Strikowski who scored just inside the far post.
Sacramento State took advantage of a DU miscue in the back to take the lead in the 27th minute, when a pass back to freshman goalkeeper Oliver Brown (Louisville, Ky.) was misplayed, and Sacramento State forward Chris Bettencourt got his foot on the loose ball to tap it into an open net.
Denver held a slight 3-2 edge in corner kicks, but the Hornets out-shot DU 15-11 in the game. Junior goalkeeper Maté Aguirre (Centennial, Colo.) made four saves after taking over as goalie in the second half.
The Pioneers will conclude their four-game MPSF road swing at San Jose State on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. MT.
