Oct. 10, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The San Diego State men's soccer team was denied a second straight victory as it fell, 5-1, to Santa Clara at Buck Shaw Stadium tonight. A three-goal first-half spurt helped the Broncos improve to 6-3-1 on the season, while the Aztecs dropped to 3-7-1.
After SDSU freshman Matt Couch's header in the second minute was denied by Santa Clara goalkeeper Kent Harkness, the Broncos held the Aztecs without another scoring chance while racking up three goals of their own over the next 33 minutes. The rally started with a lucky break for Santa Clara, as Aztec defender Drew Picone's header went into the SDSU goal to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.
Later in the first half, the Broncos registered two goals within a two-minute span as Burke Ewers converted a penalty kick at 31 minutes, 52 seconds, and then assisted on Ryan Cochrane's first goal of the season at 34:32.
Sophomore Paul Szefler, the Aztecs' scoring leader, converted a penalty kick of his own at 37:49 to bring SDSU within 3-1. In what has become a familiar refrain in a season in which he leads the team with six goals and 13 points, Szefler has now scored in six of the seven matches this season that the Aztecs have a goal.
Santa Clara tacked on two insurance goals in the second half to finalize the score at 5-1.
SDSU has bettered its opponents' shots on goal percentage this season by a .441-to-.333 margin and the Aztecs were once again efficient with their shots, as 3-of-7 Aztec shots found the net. However, the Broncos and Harkness were up to the task as the goalkeeper made two saves and the Santa Clara defense blocked a shot.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Barnes was credited with three saves for the Aztecs.
The loss marks the end of a difficult road stretch for SDSU, as the Aztecs have played four of their last five matches away from the Sports Deck against some of the toughest teams in the West region. SDSU returns to action with a 4:00 p.m. match Wednesday at the Sports Deck against undefeated No. 8 Loyola Marymount before beginning conference play on Friday, Oct. 18, at 3:00 p.m. at the Sports Deck against MPSF rival UNLV.