ARCATA — (Aug. 24) Avenging their season ending loss from 2005, Humboldt State's men's soccer team defeated Western Washington, 2-1, in an exciting non-conference season opener on the HSU Soccer Field.  

The Lumberjack's head coach Andy Cumbo was pleased with the win. “It was exactly how we want to start the season, with a win at home.”    

Humboldt came out strong when Zlatan Sahmanovic tallied an early goal in the third minute of the first half, knocking in a volley off of a corner kick by Jon Eseman. The Jacks kept their energy high and played strong offensively throughout the first half.    

The Vikings started the second half aggressively, putting up seven corner kicks and six shots. Western's Nick Saletto scored the Vikings' only goal, 20 minutes into the second half.    

“We came out flat in the second half,” said Cumbo. “Once they scored, we bounced back well. We always talk about finding a way to get it done, and we did just that.”    

The Jacks quickly responded and were able to regain their momentum. With six minutes remaining, goalkeeper Drew Ryan came up with a save and passed the ball out to Lance Pimentel. Pimentel sent a long ball up the middle of the field where Eseman gathered it and beat the Vikings keeper one-on-one for the go-ahead goal.    

“Jon had a strong game,” said Cumbo.  “He created a lot of opportunities and was able to capitalize on the last one.  I was impressed by Mark Nelson in the back and Keith Lambert did an exceptional job at midfield.”    

The Lumberjacks travel to Redding on Aug. 30 to take on Simpson College in another non-conference match.