Oct. 24, 2005
SAN DIEGO - Freshman Omar Persad's goal midway through the second half, the first of his collegiate career, proved to be the difference as San Diego State defeated the University of San Diego, 1-0, at Torero Stadium Monday night. A crowd of 1,008 saw the Aztecs best USD for the first time since 1991 when they won by the same score on the Toreros' home field.
The victory improved San Diego State to 8-1-4 on the season as it ended a scoring drought that had seen it finish with 0-0 ties in each of its last two outings. The loss dropped USD to 6-4-3 and ended its streak of four straight wins over SDSU.
The Toreros began the game on the offensive and had the match's first good chance in the seventh minute. With an Aztec defender slipping in the box, USD's Michael Caso found himself free 10 yards in front of goal. However, his well-struck shot went straight to SDSU goalie Tally Hall who made the save and held on.
San Diego State created its best scoring opportunity of the half in the 27th minute when defender Eric Santiago lofted a cross from the right sideline about 30 yards out that found teammate Heath Creager, whose header went a foot wide of the right post.
The buildup to SDSU's goal started when midfielder Kraig Chiles took a pass on the right side of the Torero penalty area and hit a shot that was deflected to Creager. The ensuing shot by Creager was blocked, and the rebound came to Persad just outside the top of the box. The first-year forward hit a hard right-footed shot that went into the lower left side of the net past Torero goalie Lance Friesz at the 62:06 mark.
San Diego State out-shot the Torero's over the course of the 90 minutes, 14-9, with SDSU's Hall making six saves. It was the 10th shutout of the season for the Aztec keeper, tying the school record set by Bryan Finnerty during the 1989 campaign.
USD's Friesz had a pair of saves to his credit, both coming in the second half.
San Diego State was without the services of forward Raul Bautista, one of the team's top playmakers and its second-leading scorer. The junior from Salida, Calif., suffered a concussion in SDSU's contest at UCLA on Oct. 15 and has not yet been cleared to resume action. In addition, several others who played were nursing minor injuries.
"This was a big win for us and even more impressive when you consider that nine of the 16 players we used were either freshmen or sophomores," said SDSU coach Lev Kirshner. "Heath (Creager), Dennis (Sanchez) and Andrew (DiCicco) were about 80 percent healthy and of course we missed Raul (Bautista). Our younger players were able to come off the bench and have an impact on the game, and it was fitting that a freshman got the game winner for us."
San Diego State will now prepare to resume Pac-10 Conference action as the second half of the league season begins on Friday, Oct. 28, when Washington visits the Sports Deck for a 3:00 p.m. contest.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Forward Omar Persad was named San Diego State's Man of the Match for his performance against the University of San Diego. His goal on a perfectly-placed low shot gave the Aztecs the 1-0 win over their local rival. After scoring the goal, he was instrumental in helping SDSU gain and keep possession of the ball, demonstrating both his offensive and defensive skills.
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
10/24 vs. San Diego.......... ...Omar Persad, F