Nov. 13, 2003
SACRAMENTO - The San Diego State men's soccer team picked up a 3-1 win over host Cal State Sacramento Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
The Aztecs, 9-7-3 on the season, will face top seed San Jose State Friday night at 7 p.m.
The win was the first ever for SDSU in the MPSF postseason tournament. The winner of the event earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State has not advanced to the NCAA bracket since 1989.
The Aztecs got a pair of goals from Kevin Sapanli, the first coming just three minutes into the game. After the Hornets got even, SDSU got a goal from Raul Bautista off an assist from Eric Wohl to hold a 2-1 lead at the break.
Sapanli's second goal came seven minutes into the second half to close the scoring. Colin Hanke had five saves as SDSU outshot the hosts by a 14-13 count. Josh Arenas also contributed a solid effort on the defensive end coming off the bench.
On Nov. 2, the Aztecs dropped a 2-1 road decision to San Jose State. The Spartans had a first-round bye. They will open MPSF play against the Aztecs.