ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Sonoma State opened its 2016 campaign with two games in three days and the Seawolves came away with a pair of victories. On Saturday, Sonoma beat Chico State in the opener, 15-5, before fending off Santa Clara on Monday, 14-12.

Chico entered Saturday's contest coming off an opening-season loss to Nevada-Reno the week before. The Seawolves shot out of the gate against the Wildcats and never looked back. Scoring opened with a goal from junior Tyler Yamamoto followed by goals from seniors Zach Swinford and Brad Bochesa. Chico would snag one on a man-up to bring the score to 3-1, but Sonoma ended the half on a 5-1 run and the score stood 8-2 at the break.

In the second half, Sonoma continued to put balls in the back of the net while using a suffocating ride to prevent Chico from building any momentum. Cooper Urbany and Jose Morales held down the faceoff X, while Zach Thomson and Zach Urbany both had standout halves in the net.

After an off day on Sunday, Sonoma was back on the road to battle WCLL foe Santa Clara. The first quarter featured a battle of defenses as the Seawolves took a 2-1 lead going into the second. However, Sonoma’s offense exploded in the second quarter, getting five goals to take a 7-5 lead into halftime. In the first half, Cooper Urbany dominated the faceoff X, while offense was paced by Swinford. The defense held stout despite a multitude of penalties including a two men down set late in the first quarter.

The second half was the tale of two segments. The Broncos got the first goal of the third quarter, but then Sonoma went on a 6-2 run to take a 13-8 lead with about seven minutes left in the fouth quarter. The Broncos kept fighting and got to within one with just over two minutes remaining.

The Seawolves were able to win the draw and kill about a minute of clock before taking a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Broncos tried to get the ball, but freshman Angelo Lagomarsino broke the double and a few passes later ended up with the ball for a one-on-one to give Sonoma a 14-12 lead with 40 seconds left.

“The first games of the year are always a bit sloppy. However, our team chemistry wasn’t and in both games we overcame mistakes by working as a unit to earn the victory” said Sonoma coach Panchito Ojeda. “We got contributions from many players who might not show up on the score sheet. With the upcoming schedule, we will need to continue to grow and be a strong team as we face three Top 25 teams in the next three games.”

Sonoma will host Chapman on Saturday at 1 p.m.