Oct. 28, 2007
LOS ANGELES - Senior co-captain Kraig Chiles (San Diego/Poway HS) scored a goal and added an assist to help the San Diego State men's soccer team shut out Oregon State, 3-0, at North Athletic Field on the campus of UCLA Sunday afternoon. The Aztecs improved to 8-4-2 overall and 4-2-0 in Pac-10 play, while the Beavers fell to 5-10-0 and 2-5-0.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at SDSU Sports Deck, but because of the wildfires in San Diego County and poor air quality, it was moved to Los Angeles.
SDSU outshot Oregon State, 18-9, for the match and held an 8-0 advantage in shots on goal. In addition, the San Diego State won the corner kick battle, 4-2.
Freshman Khadim Diouf got the Aztecs on the board 23:02 into the match when he settled a pass from sophomore Steve Beitashour and blasted the ball into the back of the net from 15 yards out. It was Diouf's fifth goal of the season and fourth in six games.
SDSU had many more chances to score in the first half but couldn't get the ball in the net, largely in party of solid goalkeeping by the Beavers' Packy Deenihan. Chiles had his hard shot attempt from just outside the penalty box stopped by a diving Deenihan in the 29th minute. Deenihan came up big once again in 34th minute when he deflected sophomore Jamel Wallace's (San Diego/Oceanside HS) close range shot to keep the game at 1-0 at the break in favor of the Aztecs.
Early in the second half, a San Diego State player was taken down in the penalty box and the team was rewarded with a penalty kick. Chiles calmly put the ball away at the 50:39 mark with his team-high seventh goal of the season. Chiles is now a perfect 5-for-5 on penalty kicks over the last two seasons.
Chiles almost put away his second goal of the game in the 56th minute but Deenihan once again came up with a quality save, keeping the score at 2-0. Deenihan made another nice stop on a Diouf header in the 80th minute.
The Aztecs, however, finally broke through for their third goal of the game at the 89:38 mark when senior Matt Lemire took a pass from Chiles on the left side, beat a Beaver player with a move and touched the ball into the net from four yards away. It was Lemire's first goal while at SDSU and ninth of his collegiate career (Lemire played at UMass in the 2004-05 seasons).
Chiles had a game-high five shots (three on goal) to lead the San Diego State offense, while Diouf (four shots), sophomore Evan Toft (three shots) and sophomore Daniel Ortega (two shots) also contributed offensively.
Junior goalkeeper Jorge Rosales (2-2-0) played all 90 minutes without recording a save for his second shutout of the season.
The Aztec defense was solid once again, keeping Oregon State without a shot on goal and just nine shots in the game. Sophomore preseason All-American Nick Cardenas played all 90 minutes in the back, and was joined by the combination of junior Danny Ortiz (86 minutes), freshman Raymundo Reza (61 minutes), sophomore Matt McManus (52 minutes) and junior Myles Davis (48 minutes). Wallace also saw some time in the back for San Diego State.
SDSU will continue its five-game road/neutral trip with a pair of matches at California (1 p.m. Friday) and Stanford (2:30 p.m. Sunday) this weekend.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Senior Kraig Chiles earned Man of the Match honors after recording a goal and an assist in SDSU's 3-0 win. Chiles, who had a game-high five shot attempts on Sunday, has five goals on 20 shots over his last five matches. Chiles started for the 53rd consecutive game on Sunday.