Nov. 2, 2003
SAN JOSE - San Diego State men's soccer was handed their first conference loss at San Jose State, 2-1, on Sunday in San Jose. The Aztecs scored first when Heath Creager knocked in a ball off a corner kick, but the Spartans rallied back with two goals in the second half to secure the MPSF regular season title. SDSU is now 7-5-3 on the year and 1-1-2 in conference action, while SJSU improves to 10-4-2 overall, and 5-1 in the conference.
The Aztecs netted their goal at the 36:03 mark when Kenny Fechner gave a corner kick to Kevin Sapanli who crossed it for the score by Creager. The assist by Fechner gives him eight on the season, which is the most for an Aztec since Aaron Susi tallied 10 in 1995. The goal was the sixth of the season for Creager, who leads the team in both points and goals, while the assist for Sapanli was the third time in the last four games he has tallied a point. SDSU remained solid the rest of the half as they allowed only five shots in the first 45 minutes and the Aztecs entered the break up 1-0.
The Spartans turned up the intensity in the second half as they outshot SDSU 6-3 in the final period. The first SJSU goal came 10 minutes into the final period as Randy Poggio scored his 12th goal of the year. San Jose State earned the game winner at the 79:16 mark as Johnny Gonzalex slid a bounding ball past SDSU goalkeeper Colin Hanke.
The two teams recorded 11 shots apiece with SDSU holding a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal in a very evenly contested matchup. Both teams entered the game ranked in the Far West Region by the NSCAA, SDSU at #10 and SJSU at #8.
The Aztecs will finish out the regular season with three games in the final week starting at Loyola Marymount on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The 2003 home finale is Sunday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. against New Mexico.