STOCKTON, Calif. – In a match of runs, Pacific (2-2-1) dropped a 5-2 decision to Sacramento State Thursday evening at Knoles Field. The Hornets (3-2) took an early lead on a pair of goals off corner kicks. Pacific answered with two goals to tie the match. Sacramento State's Dominic Vegaalban scored a second-half hat trick to give the Hornets the 5-2 margin.
 
The Tigers fell despite recording 10 shots on goal, compared to six for the Hornets.
 
"We have to do the little things," said head coach Adam Reeves. "We are going to learn the hard way. You can be in full control and give up a set piece, it change the trajectory of the match. We give up a goal in the seventh and 19 minutes that both happened the same way. It's extremely disappointing. We've worked on it, saw a lot of video. We out played them. But we need to do the dirty work it takes to win college soccer matches."
 
Sacramento State got on the board early, scoring off a corner kick 7:02 into the match when Bryan Gutierrez headed in the cross from Genaro Alfaro. The Hornets added a second goal 19:06 into the match with the same combination, Alfaro hit the cross to Gutierrez, who scored his second goal of the match.
 
Pacific responded with a goal off its first corner kick with Marco Martinez heading in the Cory Johnson cross, pulling the Tigers within one 25:55 into the match. It was the first career goal for the sophomore from Madrid.
  
Fifth-year senior Derick Roque tied the game at two just 2:21 seconds into the second half, getting a pass from graduate student Vinzent Zingel, and putting it the net for a team-best four goals on the season. For Zingel, it was the first point as a Tiger. 
 
In the 64^th minute, a collision outside the box resulted in junior goalkeeper Joshua Moya picking up a red card. Redshirt sophomore Brian Lanier replaced Moya in goal. The ensuing free kick resulted in a goal by Dominic Vegaalban, putting Sacramento State back on top, 3-2, with all three Hornet goals coming off set pieces.
 
Five minutes later, Sacramento State added another tally on Vegaalban's second goal from a Cody Sundquist assist, pushing the edge to 4-2 with just over 20 minutes to play. Ten minutes later, the Hornets picked up an insurance tally from Vagaalban with Michael Gonzalez getting the assist for the final 5-2 score.
 
The Tigers make the short trip north to Davis, Calif., to face UC Davis (2-1-1) at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Aggie Soccer Field. The Aggies tied #24 Loyola Marymount, 1-1, in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The LMU Lions entered the national poll after a 1-0-2 start to the season, knocking off #15 Virginia, 3-1, and tying Michigan and California Baptist, all on the road.
 
WCC member Portland has moved up #3 in the country after a 3-0 start with wins over Sacramento State, UC Santa Barbara and Utah Valley by a combined 13-2.
 
UC Davis has won four of the last five matches in the series, including the last two. Last season, the Aggies scored the only second-half goal in a 2-1 win at Knoles Field.