Sept. 4, 2015
San Jose, Calif. - The San Jose State men's soccer team spotted Sacramento State two goals in the first 15 minutes of its match on Friday afternoon, but three goals by striker Rory Knibbs in the span of seven and a half minutes turned the score and the game around leading to a 4-2 win for the Spartans (1-1-0).
Kibbs' first two tallies, a pair of headers, were goals of opportunity. At the 25:27 mark, Alex Alcaraz placed his corner kick right in front of the Hornets' (0-3-0) net. Mikhail Wingate-Pearse rose up and headed the ball into the crossbar. It ricocheted down to Knibbs who drive it home to cut the Sacramento State (0-3-0) lead in half.
Less than six minutes later Alcaraz blasted a shot from close on the right wing which Hornets' keeper Philip Bru deflected, but couldn't control. Knibbs was crashing the goal and headed the rebound in to tie the score at 2-2 in the 32nd minute.
A minute and a half later, at the 33:05 mark, Knibbs was dragged down in the box and awarded a penalty kick. Bru dove to his left as Knibbs tucked the ball into the lower right corner of the goal for his third score in seven minutes and 38 seconds.
It is the second hat trick of Knibbs' San José State career, the first coming in last season's home opener, a 4-1 win over UMass.
Alcaraz, a junior from San Jose, assisted on Knibbs' first two goals and picked up his third of the game on freshman Zach Penner's tally in the 53rd minute. With the ball on the right side of the box, Alcaraz played a perfect pass to Penner who hammered a shot from the top of the box for the first goal of his collegiate career.
For the match, the Spartans out shot Sacramento State 15-to-11 led by four shots from Knibbs. Greg Harte, in a reserve roll, attempted three and Victor Parra got off two. Eddie Saydee, Kyler McLaughlin, Alcaraz, Penner, Jonathan Partida and Wingate-Pearse each attempted one shot.
In goal, Emmanuel Espinoza (1-1-0) stopped four of the six shots, which reached his line and earned his first win of the season.
The Sacramento State goals came from Isaac Flores, at the 9:59 mark, and Brad Bumgarner, in the 16th minute. Bru (0-2-0) made six saves in the loss.
The Spartans' next opponent is Stanford. San Jose State is at the Cardinal on Thursday, September 10 in a 7:00 p.m. kickoff.
Sacramento State (0-3-0) vs. San Jose State (1-1-0)
Date: Sep 04, 2015 Attendance: 167
Weather:
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Sacramento State.... 2 0 - 2
San Jose State...... 3 1 - 4
SCORING SUMMARY:
- 9:59 SAC(1) Flores, Isaac (1) (Ramirez, Ivan) - Drove left side, scored high
- 15:14 SAC(1) Bumgarner, Brad (1) (Ochoa, Fernando) - Long through ball popped over keeper
- 25:27 SJSU Knibbs, Rory (1) (Wingate-Pearce, M.;Alcaraz, Alex) - Header off rebound from three yards out
- 31:23 SJSU Knibbs, Rory (2) (Alcaraz, Alex) - Header off rebound
- 33:05 SJSU Knibbs, Rory (3) Penalty kick
- 52:25 SJSU Penner, Zach (1) (Alcaraz, Alex) - Feed from the right side, blast from top of the box
Shots: Sacramento State 11, San Jose State 15
Saves: Sacramento State 6 (Bru, Philip 6), San Jose State 4 (Espinoza,
Emmanuel 4)