Sept. 2, 2002
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's soccer team opened its 2002 home slate with a 4-3 loss to St. Mary's this afternoon at the Sports Deck. The Gaels scored two goals within the final 7 minutes, 16 seconds of play to claim their first victory of the season.
The back-and-forth contest featured four lead changes, beginning with senior Tyler Tinling's goal at 29:11 that gave the Aztecs a 1-0 lead. Freshman Raul Bautista and sophomore Paul Szefler earned the assists on Tinling's first goal of the season.
However, St. Mary's (1-0-1) came back with the tying goal at 31:05 and less than five minutes into the second half the Gaels had a 2-1 lead on Derek Youpel's goal off a cross from Patrick Lower.
San Diego State (0-1-1) then scored the next two goals of the match as Szefler tallied his second score of the young season and freshman Matt Couch registered the first goal of his collegiate career. Szefler, who leads the Aztecs with five points after two matches, knocked the rebound of junior Nick Natale's shot past Gael goalkeeper Josh Duffy at 51:35 to tie the match. Nearly 17 minutes later, Couch's goal off a cross by sophomore Eric Wohl gave the Aztecs a 3-2 lead.
The Gaels tied the match at 3-3 on a corner kick by Diego Rovira at 82:44 that went directly into the net with help from the windy conditions at the Sports Deck. Just more than three minutes later, Adam Zielske's unassisted shot from 25 yards found the net to give the Gaels the victory.
San Diego State, playing without four injured starters, out shot St. Mary's 14-9. Duffy made six saves for the Gaels while senior keeper Brian Barnes recorded a save for the Aztecs.
The defeat is San Diego State's second straight in a home season-opener after a 33-year unbeaten streak. The Aztecs are now 28-2-5 in season-opening home matches.