Sept. 2, 2006
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 21 San Diego State men's soccer team fell to 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, in Santa Barbara on Saturday night. The loss was the first of the season for the Aztecs (2-1), who started four underclassmen in the match, while the Gauchos improved to 2-1.
UCSB's Bongomin Otii scored the only goal of the match early in the second half on a play created by Andy Iro. Pushing up from his defensive position along the left sideline, Iro dribbled the ball inside the left portion of the penalty box and flicked a pass across the goal box to a slashing Otii. Otii slid in and poked a shot into the right portion of the goal, past a diving Tally Hall at the 55:52 mark.
Much of the contest was played between the goal boxes as the teams combined for just 21 total shots, 11 of which were on goal. SDSU had 10 shots (five on goal) and UCSB had 11 shots (six on goal) in the evenly-matched game.
Hall, a 2005 All-American, finished with five saves for the Aztecs.
Junior Kraig Chiles led the SDSU offense with three shots, including two on net. Sophomore Nick Collins had two shots, and juniors Matt Lemire and Freddy McDonald each took a shot on goal.
The Aztecs will travel to play UC Riverside at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Senior All-American goalkeeper Tally Hall was the Man of the Match after recording five saves for the game, keeping the Aztecs within striking distance of the Gauchos.