Aug. 20, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's soccer team continued its preparations for the upcoming season by defeating UC San Diego, 4-2, in an exhibition contest played on the UCSD campus Friday evening. Four different players scored for the Aztecs as they took an early lead and were never caught.
SDSU opened the scoring in the eighth minute when midfielder Andrew DiCicco made a run down the left and was brought down in the penalty box. Sophomore Kraig Chiles converted the penalty kick to stake the Aztecs to the 1-0 lead.
San Diego State doubled its advantage ten minutes later when Raul Bautista slotted a shot to the far post on an assist by Nick Collins. However, the host Tritons made it a 2-1 contest, scoring just before the halftime whistle.
The Aztecs restored their two-goal lead in the 68th minute as Collins scored on a breakaway after being put through on goal by teammate Eric Turner. Collins then turned provider in the 70th minute as he took a long pass from Matt Couch and laid the ball off for Dennis Sanchez, who cracked a shot from 35 yards that sailed into the upper right corner of the net.
UCSD tallied a late consolation goal consolation goal in there 75th minute to complete the scoring.
SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner was pleased with his effort of his squad, which just opened preseason training camp earlier this week.
"This was a great result for us and overall I'm pleased with how we played," said Kirshner. "Even though we played well, we still need to work on a couple of things defensively, but I'm happy considering how we've struggled the past two years. We won this game without four national team pool players who we expect to be available when the regular season starts."
Up next for the Aztecs is the annual Alumni game which will be contested next Saturday, Aug, 27, at 1:00 p.m. on the SDSU Sports Deck. The team opens its 2005 regular season against Rutgers on Sept. 2 at the Phillips/adidas Classic in Piscataway, New Jersey.
MAN OF THE MATCH: San Diego State's Man of the Match honors for this contest went to redshirt freshman midfielder Nick Collins, who contributed a goal and a pair of assists to the Aztec victory. Collins, who sat out the 2004 campaign, came to the Aztecs from Paso Robles (Calif.) High School.