Oct. 22, 2006
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The San Diego State men's soccer team, playing in its third consecutive double-overtime match, tied Oregon State, 2-2, in Corvallis, Ore., on Sunday afternoon. The Aztecs are now 7-5-3 overall and 3-2-2 in Pac-10 play, while the Beavers are 5-10-2 and 0-8-1 in league games.
For its second consecutive match, SDSU was outshot, but had the better scoring opportunities.
After a scoreless first half, the Aztecs got on the scoreboard in the 57th minute thanks to some nice passing up the right side. The ball found its way to freshman Daniel Ortega in the middle and he laid a through ball to senior tri-captain Raul Bautista. Bautista ran onto it and beat the goalkeeper to the left side on his sliding attempt. It was Bautista's second goal of the season.
Oregon State responded with a goal of its own two minutes later (59:29) as Matt Bowman's header found the back of the net off a pass by Robbie Findley.
In the 76th minute, Beaver goalkeeper Jason Mariner made a nice save on Bautista's one-time attempt inside 10 yards and barely tipped the ball wide of the goal.
Oregon State would add its second goal in the 84th minute off the foot of Robby Christner.
The late goal didn't faze SDSU, however, as freshman Evan Toft scored a brilliant goal at 87:35 for the equalizer. Toft received a throw-in by senior tri-captain Andrew DiCicco and fired a shot from 25 yards out with his left foot that beat Mariner into the upper-right corner of the net. The tally was Toft's second of the season.
The Aztecs kept the pressure on and almost scored with a few seconds left in the second half, but sophomore Kevin Werbner's half-volley was tipped over the crossbar by Mariner.
Three minutes into the first overtime, SDSU junior Matt Lemire ripped a shot that was once again tipped over the crossbar by Mariner.
Toft and junior Kraig Chiles led the Aztec offense with three shots apiece, while Bautista and Ortega each had two shots on net. Freshman Nick Cardenas added two shot attempts.
Senior All-American goalkeeper Tally Hall played all 110 minutes in net for SDSU and made five saves.
The Aztecs return to San Diego for a pair of Pac-10 Conference games this weekend beginning with a match against nationally ranked California at 3 p.m. Friday.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Senior Raul Bautista earned Man of the Match honors for the second consecutive game and fifth time this season. Bautista scored a goal in the 58th minute to put the Aztecs up 1-0. His two shots on goal were tied with Daniel Ortega for the most on the team.