Oct. 28, 2005
SAN DIEGO - For the second tie this season, San Diego State and Washington played 110 minute of scoreless soccer in a match that ended in a 0-0 draw at the SDSU Sports Deck Friday afternoon. The result was identical to when the teams met in Seattle on Oct. 1 and was the Aztecs' third scoreless contest in its last four outings.
With the stalemate, San Diego State (8-1-5, 1-1-4 Pac-10) set a school record for draws in a season with their fifth. The Aztecs have recorded four ties in a season on seven previous occasions.
The shutout was the 11th of the year posted by Aztec goalkeeper Tally Hall as he establishes a new SDSU single-season mark in that category. Hall bested the record of Bryan Finnerty, who turned in 10 shutouts during the 1989 campaign.
San Diego State was without the services of its second-leading scorer for most of the match and its third-leading scorer for the entire match. Forward Raul Bautista, who suffered a concussion at UCLA on Oct. 16, was held out for most of the match, coming on late in regulation. Creager was serving a one-game suspension for an accumulation of five yellow cards this fall.
The Aztecs best chance of the match came late, when freshman Omar Persad's blast from 25 yards was tipped over the crossbar by Husky goalie Chris Eylander in the 84th minute.
But Washington came closest to pulling out the win with eight minutes left in the second overtime as Derek Crismier hit a shot from 12 yards that hit the left post and rebounded across the face of the goal all the way to the sideline and out of bounds.
Both UW's Eylander and SDSU's Hall finished the day with three saves. Two of Hall's stops came in the first three minutes of the contest as the Huskies tried to get on top early.
"For some reason we've started slowly each of the past few matches and we've been on our heels for the first 10 minutes," Said coach Lev Kirshner. "After that we gradually work our way into the matches and are able to play our game. That was the case again today. We need to get off to a quicker starts in games like these.
"All in all, we played a pretty solid match defensively today. The team has developed the ability to identify problems on the field as they occur and sort them out. Earlier in the season we were doing it from the bench. You can see the team getting more settled in with each match."
Up next for San Diego State is a match against Oregon State on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 1:00 p.m. on the Sports Deck. The Aztecs will be seeking a measure of revenge as the Beavers are the lone side to defeat SDSU this season (a 2-1 OSU win in Corvallis on Oct. 2).
MAN OF THE MATCH
Senior defender Matt Couch was named San Diego State's Man of the Match for his performance in the contest vs. Washington. Couch was instrumental in organizing the defense and winning numerous balls both in the air and on the ground against the Huskies. His efforts helped SDSU record its 11th shutout of the 2005 campaign.
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
10/28 vs. Washington............Matt Couch, D,