Box Score ARCATA – Brian Holmes' second-half goal gave Humboldt State its first win of the season in a 1-0 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay Friday afternoon.

The Lumberjacks improve to 1-3, 1-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association, with the win, while the loss drops the Otters 1-2-1 overall, 1-1-1 CCAA.

"We've been waiting for things to click, and today was that day," said head coach C.J. Johnson. "We certainly came out with a bit of urgency."

Humboldt State took the two road losses as eye-opening lessons to play better and control the ball. Johnson was very pleased with the first half, saying it was the best his team has played this season.

"I thought our midfield group finally started to connect passes, use one- and two-touch passes and play the way they faced," said Johnson. "It's a tremendous improvement."

The Jacks had a great opportunity in the 9th minute of play using give-and-go passes from the three midfielders. Zach Hammond laid a pass off to Eric Baumgardner who set up Dan Mariani for a shot, but the Otters' goalkeeper, Sam Campanelli, was there to make the save.

Kyle Verle registered two saves to snag his first shutout of the season. Defensively the Jacks have improved since giving up 12 goals in their first three games, but Johnson knows they need to continue making progress.

"We still need to improve on defensive clears," said Johnson. "We're giving up far too many corner kicks."

The Otters had a great scoring chance in the 40th minute off one of their 11 corner kicks, but Mariani cleared it off the line. The Jacks responded with two more shots before sending the game tied 0-0 at half.

The Lumberjack offense continued to put pressure on the Otters in the second half, with Hammond firing off a shot in the 47th minute, but Campanelli was there to hold onto the ball for one of his six saves of the game.

"We definitely improved with getting numbers into the box, as well as getting behind the ball defensively," said Johnson.

Humboldt State got a break in the 64th minute when Jon Decker received his second yellow card of the match, resulting in his ejection. The Jacks took advantage of having a man up and Holmes capitalized in the 67th minute, his first goal of the season. Mariani sent a through ball to lead Hammond into the offensive third. Peter Darquea headed Hammond's cross back across the goal where Holmes was there to slot it in.

"It's something we've been working on quite a bit so it was nice to see it finally pay off," said Johnson. "I thought those byline plays were going to pay off as their backs wore down and they certainly did."

The Otters did not give up despite playing a man down, playing more direct and sending numbers into the box, but they could not find an equalizer.

"For us, it was all about finishing the game without making mistakes to cost us the game," said Johnson. "Today was very much a team effort—just a well-played match by the entire team."

HSU returns to CCAA action Sunday as they face Cal State East Bay with a kickoff time of 2 p.m.