Oct. 29, 2006
SAN DIEGO - Freshman defender Nick Cardenas headed in a corner kick off the foot of classmate Evan Toft in the 88th minute to lift the San Diego State men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Stanford at SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday. With the win, the Aztecs (9-5-3) move into sole possession of second place in the Pac-10 with a 5-2-2 record. The Cardinal dropped to 6-7-4 overall and 4-3-2 in Pac-10 play.
San Diego State is now 7-3-3 in its last 13 games and 8-1-1 in home matches this season. The eight home wins are the most by an SDSU team since the 1992 squad won eight home games.
Cardenas, who left the match in the 26th minute after colliding with teammate Raul Bautista inside Stanford's 18-yard box, came back at 78:43 and scored his fifth goal of the season less than nine minutes later.
The Aztecs outshot the Cardinal, 9-4, for the match and won the corner kick battle, 6-0.
SDSU had many chances to score early but was unable to put the ball away. Senior Andrew DiCicco had the Aztecs' first good chance just 1:28 into the game but his hard strike from the right side was stopped by Stanford goalkeeper John Moore. DiCicco had another good opportunity in the 17th minute when his shot from just outside the penalty area nearly missed the left post.
SDSU would head into halftime with a 4-1 advantage in shots and 4-0 lead in corner kicks.
The second half was much like the first as the Aztecs controlled the ball and had the better scoring chances. Their first opportunity came in the 49th minute when Bautista beat a Cardinal defender but pushed his shot over the net from about 12 yards out. At 67:12, junior Kraig Chiles headed a shot attempt just over the crossbar.
Bautista, Chiles, Cardenas and DiCicco each had two shot attempts for SDSU.
Aztec goalkeeper Tally Hall, a 2005 All-American, made two saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 21st career shutout. He needs just one more shutout to move into sole possession of second place on SDSU's all-time list.
The Cardinal had its best chance to score in the 19th minute when Hall saved a close range shot attempt by Galen Thompson.
The Aztecs will travel to nationally ranked UCLA for their final Pac-10 match of the season at 7 p.m. Friday.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Freshman Nick Cardenas earned Man of the Match honors after scoring the game-winning goal on a header in the 88th minute. Cardenas came back from an injury to his head that had sidelined him for most of the game.
NOTES: SDSU is now 8-1-1 at home this season and 17-2-3 over its last 22 home matches ... The eight home wins are the most since the 1992 squad won eight home games ... SDSU is 9-1-1 when scoring first and a perfect 5-0-0 when leading at halftime ... All five of D Nick Cardenas' goals this year have been headers ... The Aztecs are 5-0 when Cardenas scores ... Seven seniors - MF Raul Bautista, D Nick Clemens, D Robbie Diaz, F Andrew DiCicco, GK Tally Hall, D Ryan Reott and GK Luis Trejo - celebrated senior day and were honored with a pre-game ceremony.