ARCATA – California Collegiate Athletic Association play wraps up this week as the Humboldt State men's soccer team (6-10-2, 5-8-1) plays a home-and-home series with Sonoma State.  A 4:30 p.m. kickoff in Redwood Bowl on Friday starts the weekend.  In pregame ceremonies, HSU will honor four seniors, Roland Demombynes, Tony Ramirez, Zlatan Sahmanovic and Ben Vasser who will be competing in the final home matches of their careers.  Then on Sunday, the Jacks will be in Rhonert Park to complete the two-game set and the season in an 11:30 a.m. start. 

Last weekend the Jacks finished a four-game road-swing, their longest of the season.  On Friday they dropped a 3-1 decision at Cal State Stanislaus.  Defender Doug Simpson got the HSU goal, his first of the season.  Then on Sunday in Chico, Humboldt State avenged a 1-0 loss earlier in the season with a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats.  Roland Demombynes and Peter Darquea scored for the Jacks.

Head-to-Head
The Jacks trail the Seawolves 17-25-5 in the all-time series. SSU took the last meeting, a 5-0 result in Redwood Bowl last season.  HSU has not beaten Sonoma State in 15 straight meetings.  The last win for Humboldt State in this series was a 4-1 result in Arcata in 1996.

Johnson's Comments
“On paper the (Cal State) Stanislaus game looked like a 3-1 blowout, but that is not indicative of how the match was played.  We made an early mistake that allowed an own goal that put us down, 1-0.  Their second goal was a good one.  We were not playing poorly, we just made a few mistakes that cost us.  From there on out we kicked it up a notch, got a goal and the boys knew and played like we were still in it, which we were.  In the second half their keeper had to make some big time saves and he did.  Zack Hammond banged one off the post and we had a couple of other chances, but just couldn't convert.  We were really coming forward and they got behind us and got that third goal, but overall we played the way we wanted to. It was just unfortunate that the breaks went their way and not ours.” … “Against Chico (State) it was very disappointing to give up that first goal.  The penalty kick, or I should say the play leading up to it, was questionable.  But as we have done for a lot of the season, we were down 1-0.  In September that would have spelled death for us, but this team is different now.  It wasn't pretty soccer by any means, but we did what we needed to in order to get that equalizer.  Really, the two goals we scored were probably the best we have had all year.  We possessed the ball, worked to get in behind their backs and had someone at the back of the box on the ball both times and banged it home.” … “The team can't wait for these next two matches.  They know they have an opportunity to go 7-3 in their last 10 games and are really pumped up.  That being said, Sonoma (State) is not going to let up in any way. (SSU has clinched the CCAA North Division and qualified for the CCAA championship).  They play good soccer and the program is right where any coach would love to have it.  They have talented player, but in this conference any team can win on any day.  We have proven it with our win over (Cal State) L.A.  They need to head into the tournament on a positive note, so we will have to be ready for a real battle.”


Lumberjack Notes
The Jacks are in fourth place in the CCAA North. …Junior Josh Suggs leads the HSU attack with eight goals and two assists for 18 points. Senior Roland Demombynes and freshman Peter Darquea have each scored three goals.  Darquea has added one assist to his line this season.  Four other Lumberjacks each have two goals – seniors Tony Ramirez, Lloyd Sinclair and Ben Vasser and junior Scott Mariani. …Keeper Kyle Verle is 6-9-2 while playing 1,504 minutes between the pipes.  He has allowed 27 goals, made 65 saves and has a save percentage of .707.  He has won four of his last five starts. … Among CCAA players, Suggs ranks in the top 10 of six categories, including first in shots (76), tied for sixth in goals and seventh in points.  Sinclair is tied for fifth in game-winners (2).  Verle is tied for eighth in shutouts (3) and seventh in saves among three categories in which he is in the CCAA top 10.


Opponents Notes
Sonoma State (13-3-2, 10-3-1) has clinched the conference's North Divison title and a berth in the CCAA Championships.  Last week the Seawolves split a pair of road matches.  On Friday they were in Chico and downed the Wildcats, 2-1 ahead of a 1-0 Sunday loss at Cal State Stanislaus.  …SSU's offense is led by Taylor Jones, who has 13 points on six goals and one assist.   Trevor Hurst and Cam Vickers have each tallied 12 points.  Hurst has four goals and four assists while Vickers has two goals and eight assists.  Brook Johnson (12-3-2, .840 save percentage and 0.80 GAA) has logged every minute in goal for the Seawolves this season.  …Sonoma State is led by head coach Marcus Ziemer.  He is in his 19th season at the helm of his alma mater and had compiled a 244-107-35 record coming into this season.