By Ethan Ndachi (@EthanNdachi) – Content Editor | Captains senior midfielder Angel Fernandez and junior defender Cameron Cook versus Sacramento State (Photo by Alex Guzman – Spear photographer)
In a dramatic finish Sunday night at the Spartan Soccer Complex, San Jose State men’s soccer (2-3-0) beat Sacramento State (1-4-0) 2-1.
With five minutes remaining, junior midfielder Daniel Fregoso Bautista dribbled into the box from the right flank and sent a low cross into the center, where it was instinctively picked up by junior defender and captain Cameron Cook to score the winning goal.
This was Cook’s first goal of the season and capped off a captain’s performance with 3 shots on goal from the left-back.
The pair have made a habit of performing against Sacramento State, with both Spartans scoring against the Hornets last season.
Fregoso Bautista’s strike in particular earned him Western Athletic Conference Top Play of the Week in September 2025.
“Danny’s done such a good job to get down that right-hand side, seeing a little gap and I just stuck my foot out and hoped for the best,” Cook said. “I think scoring a goal is probably the best feeling in the world.”
In the 81st minute, senior right-back Ruben Flores-Thomas sent in a pass from out wide, which was finished by junior midfielder Neo Ruiz to bring the Spartans level.
The play was started by Fregoso Bautista, which brought his assist total to 2 against the Hornets. The Los Banos, California, native created multiple chances for the Spartans’ offense with his close-control dribbling and progressive passing, while recording 4 shots with 2 on target.
For the majority of the match, SJSU put pressure on Sacramento State’s backline, but was unable to really find a killer moment in front of goal until the end. The Spartans had 20 shots, but only 7 were on target.
“I think we were creating chances you see now with Amir, Jordi, Danny, all the boys just getting down the wide channels, we’re able to produce so much,” Cook said. “We just got to start putting them in the back of the net now.”
On the other end of the pitch, SJSU’s defense nullified most of Sacramento State’s chances, limiting them to just 2 shots on goal out of 5 total.
The Hornets opened the scoring in the 19th minute after a corner kick from senior forward Zac Giles got to the head of senior forward Sean Battistessa at the back post.
Set plays have been a thorn in the side for the Spartans for quite some time now, after recently conceding a free kick in the Stanford game on Friday.
“We’re not known for having a tall team, so unless I can make some of these boys stretch and grow we just got to continue to work on it,” SJSU interim head coach Jesus Sanchez said. “Best way we can do it is limit set pieces, and then just continue to work on our discipline, our roles and desire to compete in the air.”
Sanchez applauded the team’s willingness to play through adversity, even with the quick turnaround.
“Even though we went down today, I felt there was a five-minute period where we kind of put our heads down, but then we went at it again and kept going,” Sanchez said. “We exerted a lot of energy and concentration on Friday…so I expected a slow start, but to be honest, we were the better team from the beginning.”
The Spartans have now won four straight against the Hornets and are 36-22-4 overall in the history of the fixture.
SJSU continues its run of home games against the University of Pacific at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Spartan Soccer Complex, San Jose, California.
