The SF State Gators (5-2) suffered its first loss of the season at home to No. 3 Cal State Stanislaus by a score of 1-0.

The Gators came into the match with an impressive 5-1 record, and a 3-0 record at home. However, the team couldn’t hold off undefeated Cal State Stanislaus Warriors (7-0) and its tough defense.

SF State came out aggressive in the first half and controlled possession of the ball during the first 15 minutes of the game, but gradually started losing its momentum as the Warriors started pressing the action.

Both goalkeepers barely had any play in the first half, as much of the heated and physical action stalled at midfield. The middle of the pitch seemed to be a battlefield as both teams went at it with aggressive tackles and hard fouls.

Both teams combined for 37 fouls in the match.

“That’s just soccer,” said senior and team captain, Elizet Ceja.  “You hear things and you get angry. You have to go out and play your game.  Every ball is 50/50, so you just have to fight to win it.”

Despite the battle of the trenches at midfield, the Warriors managed to penetrate the Gators defense and scored the only goal of the match.

Ten minutes after coming into the game as a substitute for midfielder Nicole Bare, forward Kirsten Coleman scored her sixth goal of the season at the 36′ mark with an unstoppable laser shot from 15 yards away.

After the Warriors scored the goal, the Gators were forced to change its game plan and look for the equalizer that never came. This is the second game of the season that the Gators went scoreless.

“It was extremely frustrating,” said junior and forward Alex Palomino. “Especially when certain opportunities you just don’t put away. I’ll take that and work with it for next game. It’s just really frustrating when I can’t do my job to help my team. I’ll just have to do it in the  next game.”

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead over the Gators at halftime, and held onto it for dear life.

Nothing changed for the Gators in the second half, as the team continued to struggle for possession of the ball.

The Gators only had three shots on goal while the Warriors had seven in the second half.

The teams did, however, have a clear opportunity to score in the 65′ mark with a shot from forward Autumn Fox, but Warrior goalkeeper Chelsea Lewandowski managed to block the shot.

“The difference was they put their chance away and we didn’t,” said head coach Jack Hyde. “I think the goal took them down a little bit and took the steam out of them. What it meant was we had to then come out, and instead of defending at the top of the circle we had to push higher up and start chasing and then it was all about effort.”

Friday’s match against Cal State Stanislaus was the first of 11 California College Athletic Association (CCAA) matches for the Gators. Last season the team’s record against same-conference teams was 6-7-3.