SACRAMENTO, Calif. - UC Riverside dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon at Hornet Soccer Field.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Christian Ceja won the game's first free kick in the 11th minute and whipped a ball in at the back post before the Hornets' goalkeeper grabbed it out of midair.  
• Jackson D'Alessandro was awarded another free kick in the 15th minute, but couldn't find a target and Sacramento State struck less than a minute later to take a 1-0 lead.  
• D'Alessandro sent in the first of two consecutive long crosses in the 22nd minute, both of which were grabbed out of the air before they could reach an awaiting attacker.  
• UCR won a corner shortly after Sacramento State doubled its lead. Ethan Gonzalez rocketed a shot towards the top bin and the Highlanders continued afterwards to maintain possession in the final third – the final chance went to Westley Hastings, who was in prime position for a strike before booting it over the crossbar. 
• Wyatt Ponting was impressive in his second consecutive appearance, continually making himself open in front of goal as the first half wound down. The freshman had a header to the top corner disallowed for offside in the 42nd minute.  
• Tarek Hamideh played a ball into Mika Sebastian Kosch in the 55th minute, who waited on the doorstep to put the Highlanders on the board for his first career goal.  

NOTABLES 

• True freshmen have now found the net in back-to-back matches for the Highlanders.  
• Ermias Yohannes saw playing time in his native Sacramento with 34 minutes off the bench on Saturday.  
• Noah Lopez and Edward Castro combined for four of the Highlanders' seven shots on goal.  

UP NEXT 

• UC Riverside returns to action on Wednesday, October 9 for a 7:00 p.m. visit from UC Irvine and Latin Heritage Night at the UCR Soccer Stadium. The match will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+.