Nov. 11, 2006
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 30 San Diego State men's soccer team ended its season with a 2-1 loss to No. 17 UC Santa Barbara in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Aztecs end their season with a 9-6-4 record, while the Gauchos (13-7-0) advance to play at third-seeded SMU on Wednesday night.
Junior Freddy McDonald scored SDSU's goal on an assist from sophomore Danny Ortiz in the 55th minute. UC Santa Barbara responded, however, with a pair of goals in the 66th and 68th minute, respectively.
The Aztecs controlled most of the first half, outshooting the Gauchos, 7-6, and owning a 4-0 advantage in corner kicks In fact, SDSU had three corner kicks in the first four minutes of action.
Freshman Daniel Ortega had the Aztecs' best chance in the first half when his low line drive from 15 yards out hit UCSB goalkeeper Kyle Reynish in the knee and bounced out of bounds.
The Gauchos' best chance came in the 33rd minute when David Walker flanked down the left side and hit a shot that was deflected out of bounds by SDSU goalkeeper Tally Hall.
The Aztecs' goal came early in the second half came after a pair of close range shots by UCSB, one that was saved by Hall and another that went just wide right from inside the six-yard box. On the ensuing counterattack, Ortiz sent a ball into the 18-yard box from just over the midfield line. McDonald trapped the pass, beat a Gaucho defender and drilled a shot into the lower-left corner from eight yards out.
Four minutes later, Hall stopped UCSB's Eric Alvila breakaway attempt to keep the game scoreless.
The Gauchos tied the game at 65:51 when Bryan Byrne's long attempt appeared to be saved by Hall. The ruling on the field, however, was that when Hall saved it, the ball was already across the goal line.
Two minutes later, Andy Iro scored off a rebound of Tyler Rosenlund's original shot to give UC Santa Barbara the goal and the victory.
Hall made another great save in the 77th minute off a shot attempt by Avila, deflecting his shot over the top of the net.
McDonald finished with a team-high three shots for SDSU, while Ortega and freshmen Evan Toft had two shots apiece.
Hall played all 90 minutes and made a game-high eight saves for the Aztecs.
MAN OF THE MATCH: The Aztec seniors were named the Men of the Match. Head coach Lev Kirshner said of the seniors, "The seniors have changed this program and deserve all the credit for another fine season."