Nov. 19, 2005
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The San Diego State men's soccer team's first venture into the postseason in 16 years ended abruptly as the fell, 2-0, at UC Santa Barbara Saturday afternoon. Playoff experience may have been the difference as the Gauchos were making their fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance, going all the way to the national title game a year ago.
Although the home side had a bit more of the play over the first 45 minutes, the teams were deadlocked 0-0 at the break. The scoreless period continued SDSU's trend of not allowing a goal in the first half this season. The Aztecs had goalie Tally Hall to thank for that as he made a pair of point blank saves to keep the game scoreless.
UC Santa Barbara broke the deadlock some 12 minutes into the second half on a goal by senior forward Ivan Becerra, his 11th of the season. The buildup to the goal began with midfielder Tyler Rosenlund carrying the ball into the right side of the box.
Rosenlund then found Andrew Proctor open the top of the box, forcing Hall to come off his line. Instead of shooting, Proctor found Becerra streaking down the left-hand side of the box, and he dribbled the ball behind an off-balanced Hall and slid it inside the far post.
The Aztecs chances of mounting a comeback were dealt a blow when Raul Bautista received a second yellow card for physical play in the 75th minute. Playing with a man advantage, UCSB made it 2-0 just over three minutes later.
Rosenlund, who was near the center at the top of the box, slid a pass to Davis on the right. Davis dribbled the ball into the box towards the end line and from a tight angle, sent a missile over Hall and into the upper right portion of the goal.
A second SDSU red card with seven minutes remaining essentially ended Aztecs' hopes for the match as they ended the game with nine players on the field.
San Diego State goalkeeper Tally Hall made four saves on UCSB's six shots on goal while the Gauchos' Kyle Reynish stopped three of the Aztecs goal-bound shots.
UCSB (13-4-3) now moves on take on Cal State Northridge on Tuesday while the Aztecs conclude their 2005 campaign with a record of 9-4-6, its best under sixth-year head coach Lev Kirshner.