Cal Poly Defeats SSU 14-6

The Sonoma State Men's lacrosse team went on the road for the first time this season, traveling to San Luis Obispo to take on #3 ranked Cal Poly on Saturday, March 8th at 1pm. 

Despite the Seawolves keeping it within reach in the first half, the Mustangs proved to be too much as the game advanced, outscoring SSU 7-2 in the second half to win 14-6. The Seawolves move to 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in WCLL play. 

Junior attackman Nick Frangione led the SSU offense with 4 goals on the day, adding to his impressive breakout campaign this season. On defense, it was Miles Dillingham who led the Noma "D-Unit" with 20 saves in three quarters of play (64.5% save percentage). Dillingham was phenomenal in the clearing game, often taking it over the midline himself to generate numbers advantages. Dylan Hardy added to his strong junior season, recovering a team high 7 GB's in the contest and forcing two turnovers. Benen Powers helped to round out the scoring on offense, scoring 1 goal himself and assisting 2 others while also scooping up 5 GB's. 

In the first quarter, it was Powers who scored first for the Seawolves on an assist from goalie Miles Dillingham. This marked Dillingam's first career point, and he nearly had a goal later in the game when he sprinted across the midline uncontested and was able to get a shot off from about 10 yards that was saved by Poly. Nick Frangione would score next for Sonoma on a right alley dodge, beating his man and the initial slide for a goal. 

Later in the first, it was George Oehm who scored his first goal of the season when Powers scooped up a ground ball behind GLE and found Oehm who hit a well placed shot in the top right corner. At the end of the first quarter, it was 5-3 in favor of Cal Poly. 

Sonoma would score the next goal of the game on a clearing pass intercepted by NIck Frangione, leading to an open net goal to bring the Seawolves within 1 early in the second quarter. Later in the second, it was Dillingham who bolted coast to coast getting 10 yards from opposing cage for an open shot. The shot was saved, but the play showed off an emerging part of Dillingham's game that could prove useful as the season continues. The Mustangs would score the next two goals to take a 7-4 lead at halftime. 

In the third, the Seawolves continued their efficient clearing (100% clear percentage through 3 quarters) when sophomore defender Liam Crow found Frangione behind the defense for a run at the cage and a score. The third quarter ended with the Mustangs up 11-5. 

In the final quarter, it was Frangione again who found the back of the net for the Seawolves on a cut through the heart of the Mustang defense, assisted by Powers. Despite being down, the Seawolves battled until the final whistle. In the end, Cal Poly prevailed 14-6, and remain undefeated on the season. 

Sonoma State will now fly to Phoenix, Arizona to take on Grand Canyon University (3/16 at 12pm) and #15 ranked Arizona State University (3/17 at 4pm) for their annual spring break trip. Both of these games are scheduled to be live streamed on mcla.us/mclatv. Mustaches are growing in nicely and the boys are fired up to make the trip. 

A special thanks to those of you who have and continue to donate to our program; it is your generous donations that help make these trips possible. 

Go Seawolves!