Sonoma, CALIF. — Dominican University of California men's soccer (4-2-0) succumbed to a late penalty kick, eventually falling to Sonoma State University (3-1-2) by a score of 2-1. 

Senior keeper Alejandro Reyes received his welcoming in the seventh minute when a pass into the box found the head of Ulysses Vega who directed the ball towards the bottom left corner, but a sprawling Reyes got his right hand on the ball as he dove backwards to make the stop. The stop long preceded a goal that came in the 29th minute after Sonoma State drew a Dominican foul to land them inches outside the left arm of the box. Vega stepped up to take the free kick, sailing it over the heads of the members in the wall and passed the outstretched arms of Reyes who had next to no chance on the sensational strike. 

Spirits were not broken as the lead was almost as short-lived as it could possibly be. Just 37 seconds after the Seawolves' goal, sophomore Lex Bernier sprinted in the attacking zone and dribbled his way into the box. After losing his defender and gaining space, Bernier sent a pass into the center of the box, finding a lunging Christopher Barrios who redirected the ball into the back of the net with his right foot to tally his first goal of the young season. The two teams would eventually leave the pitch as the buzzer sounded to alert the foes of halftime with the two sides tied 1-1. 

Dominican found itself with a slew of chances in the opening 10 minutes of the final half, earning a pair of corner kicks just a pair or minutes apart. Both corner kicks resulted in strong chances, with the best coming from the top of the box but a diving Seawolves defender got a leg on the ball to keep the game even. The Penguin pressure continued into the 64th minute when senior Cole Porter was aggregiously taken down inside the box by the Sonoma State goalie, drawing an obvious penalty kick for the Penguins. Graduate student Brian Sanchez stepped into the box to take the kick, but sent the ball off the inside of the right post before gathering his own rebound but being stopped on his second opportunity as the teams continued to be deadlocked. 

Seven total cards would be administered to the two teams in the second half as the play conutnued to pick up pace. The free kick favor was returned to Sonoma State in the 77th minute when Brian Diaz was called on a less-obvious foul on the very outside edge of the box, giving the Seawolves a penalty kick that would be converted on by Vega. The goal was enough for the Seawolves as the trotted off the pitch 12 minutes later with a 2-1 victory over Domincan. 

Dominican now takes a week off before returning home against to its first conference matchup next Wednesday against Fresno Pacific.