Oct. 16, 2005
LOS ANGELES - A battle of two nationally-ranked teams ended in a stalemate as number-12 UCLA and number-19 San Diego State battled to a 0-0 draw Sunday afternoon at Franklin W. Marshall Field at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles. With the tie, the Aztecs record now stands at 7-1-4 overall and 1-1-3 in the Pac-10 Conference while UCLA owns a 7-3-2 mark (3-1-1 Pac-10). The tie was the second straight for each side with the Aztecs and Bruins coming off a similar result at Washington and CSU Northridge respectivley.
Both teams had excellent opportunities to score, but neither side could break through. In the first half, SDSU forward Raul Bautista was put through on goal and chipped the ball past Bruin goalkeeper Eric Reed, only to see his shot go just wide of the post.
The Aztecs had another chance when Bautista sent freshman Omar Persad through with a perfectly slotted pass. Persad's ensuing shot hit the left post and rebounded to Bautista, whose shot was deflected away from goal with a kick save by Reed.
At the other end, SDSU goalie Tally Hall was kept busy making eight saves on the afternoon. In the 75th minute, he made a point blank stop on a breakaway by Bruin midfielder Jonathan Bornstein. A little later, the Aztec keeper made an excellent save on a shot by Bornstein that appeared destined for the upper right corner of the net.
A scary moment for the Aztecs occurred in the 86th minute when Bautista went up for a header and collided with UCLA's Greg Folk, suffering a concussion and losing consciousness briefly. The game was halted for several minutes and Bautista was taken to UCLA Medical Center for observation. He was expected to be released on Monday.
"It was a competitive game between two good teams and the result was a credit to our defensive organization and the play of Tally Hall," said SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner. "Tally was sensational in goal and he continues to show why he is one of the elite college keepers in the country.
"We moved Nick Clemens to the center back position and he had an excellent game for us with his ball distribution, leadership and defending over the entire 100 minutes of the contest."
San Diego State will now have a week to prepare for its next match as it takes a break from Pac-10 play for a contest against cross-town rival University of San Diego on Monday, Oct. 24, at 7:00 p.m. at Torero Stadium. P
MAN OF THE MATCH
Junior goalkeeper Tally Hall was named San Diego State's Man of the Match for his performance in goal vs. the Bruins. Hall had eight saves on the day including a couple of one-on-one efforts to keep UCLA scoreless. It was Hall's ninth shutout of the season.
2005 Man of the Match Honorees
8/18 vs. UCSD......................Kraig Chiles, MF
8/27 vs. Alumni.....................Nick Collins, MF
8/30 vs. NJIT.........................Luis Trejo, GK
9/2 vs. Rutgers.....................Heath Creager, F
9/3 vs. St. John's..................Tally Hall, GK
9/10 vs. UC Riverside...........Johann Helgason, MF
9/15 vs. Pt. Loma...................Raul Bautista, F
9/18 vs. UMKC.......................Kraig Chiles, MF
9/22 vs. Alabama A&M..........Matt Couch, D
9/25 vs. Duquesne................Kraig Chiles, MF
9/30 vs. Stanford..................Matt Couch, D
10/2 vs. California.................Dennis Sanchez, MF
10/7 vs. Oregon State...........Eric Santiago, D
10/9 vs. Washington.............Nick Clemens, D
10/16 vs. UCLA.....................Tally Hall, GK