Aug. 29, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's soccer team opened the 2003 season in exciting fashion as they earned a 2-1 overtime victory over Oregon State on Friday at the SDSU Sports Deck. Senior captain Ryan Curtis scored with six seconds remaining to send the game into the extra period. The Aztecs quickly took advantage of their second opportunity as freshman Colin Jennings fired the game-winner 2:27 into the overtime. It is the first win in a season opener for SDSU since 2000.
SDSU controlled much of the first half out shooting the Beavers 7-3 in the opening period. However, the defenses held strong as the game went to halftime scoreless. The Aztecs picked up the pressure even further at the beginning of the second, as the generated several quality scoring chances but could not find the net.
Oregon State got on the board first as Brian Farber put a Ross Duncan cornerkick just across the goal line in the 74th minute. OSU used the momentum generated by the goal to control the next several minutes of action, but the Aztecs fought back. With under a minute to play, Kenny Fechner lobbed a ball into the OSU box and the ball bounded over Peter Billmeyer, the Beavers' goalkeeper. Curtis was following the action and raced past Billmeyer to head the ball into the net. The score is the fourth of Curtis' career, who is the cetral defender for the Aztecs.
In the overtime, Jennings took a pass from Fechner and fired a shot from the left side of the box into the right corner for his first collegiate goal and the win.
Fechner registerd two assists on the day and Colin Hanke earned the win in goal as he registered five saves. SDSU out shot OSU 17-9 in the game, including a 7-6 advantage on shots on goal.
The SDSU Soccer Classic will conclude on Sunday afternoon when the Aztecs host Long Island at 2:00 pm.