Oct. 1, 2006
SAN DIEGO - Despite playing a man down for the final 75:48 of the game, the San Diego State men's soccer team upset No. 4 Washington, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck. With the win, the Aztecs (7-3-1) moved into sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 with a 3-1 record.
Senior Nick Clemens was given a red card just 14:12 into the match, forcing SDSU to play with 10 men for the remainder of the game.
The Aztecs, however, responded with a goal minutes later. Senior Andrew DiCicco slid a pass to junior Kraig Chiles on the left side of the field. Chiles then sent a perfectly-placed cross to the far post where senior Raul Bautista headed the ball into the left side of the net from 10 yards out. It was Bautista's first goal of the season.
Despite playing a man down, SDSU headed into halftime with a 7-4 advantage in shots.
Senior All-American goalkeeper Tally Hall came up big for the Aztecs once again, making six saves for his fourth shutout of the season. Hall, who was named the Pac-10 Player of the Week on Tuesday, recorded diving stops on two occasions. Hall stopped Ely Allen's semi-breakaway chance on the right side in the second minute of the game and made a point-blank save on a diving header by Ty Harden from just inside the six-yard box in the 82nd minute.
The Aztec defense - senior Ryan Reott, sophomores Danny Ortiz and Dennis Sanchez, and freshman Nick Cardenas - kept the high-powered Huskies (8-2-0, 1-2-0 Pac-10) in check for most of the game. The quartet limited Washington, which came into the match leading the conference in points (69), goals (24), assists (21) and shots per game (17.25), to just 11 shots (six on goal) in the match.
Chiles had a game-high six shot attempts for SDSU, which outshot the Huskies, 15-11, while Bautista (three) and sophomore Omar Persad (two) each had multiple shots.
The Aztecs will play host to perennial power UCLA at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Senior tri-captain Raul Bautista earned Man of the Match honors for the second consecutive game. Bautista, playing as the team's central defending midfielder, scored the game-winning goal for SDSU in the 20th minute. Bautista's two shots on goal led the team.
TEAM NOTES: The Aztecs are now 6-0-1 at home this season and 15-1-3 over their last 19 home matches ... SDSU is 2-1 against nationally ranked opponents this season ... 13 different Aztecs have registered a point in 2006 ... MF Kraig Chiles leads the team in goals (four), assists (four) and points (12) ... GK Tally Hall is 16-6-7 with a 0.65 goals against average over the last two seasons.