Oct. 19, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to No. 23 Washington Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck. The Aztecs, who were playing without their top point scorer (junior Evan Toft) and top goal scorer (redshirt junior Matt McManus), fell to 3-7-2 and 1-2-2 Pac-10 with the loss.
For the game, SDSU outshot the visiting Huskies (8-4-1, 3-1-1 Pac-10), 19-10. However, the Huskies' only chance in overtime proved to be all they would need when Raphael Cox scored at the 93:32 mark to end the game.
San Diego State had tied the game at the 59:26 mark on a nice sequence of events which led to sophomore Khadim Diouf's (Dakar, Senegal) second goal of the season. After a Husky foul, sophomore Raymundo Reza (Denver, Colo.) sent a free kick into the box that was headed back by junior M.A.C. Hermann Award candidate Nick Cardenas (Thornton, Colo.). Diouf then drilled the ball into the left corner to tie the game at 1-1.
The goal answered Washington's first tally, which came in the 55th minute when Brent Richards converted Dylan Tucker-Gangness' flick pass and knocked the ball in from 15 yards off the inside left post and in the back of the net. Cox also earned an assist on the play.
Each team had some scoring opportunities in the first half. SDSU redshirt junior Jamel Wallace (San Diego, Calif./Oceanside HS) had the first good chance in the second minute when his header off a cross from senior co-captain Dennis Sanchez (Redmond, Wash.) just missed the left post.
The last 13 minutes of the half featured two good scoring chances for each squad. At the 32:19 mark, Washington's Brent Richards ripped a shot that was saved by a diving Jorge Rosales (Redwood City, Calif.).
Four minutes later, Reza (Denver, Colo.) took a pass from Diouf and missed wide left from the top of the box.
In the 40th minute, Rosales came up big once again on a Richards line drive shot from 20 yards. Rosales knocked the ball out of bounds to keep the game scoreless.
In the final minute of the first half, Diouf got past a Husky defender and ripped a shot from 22 yards that was knocked down and corralled by the Washington goalkeeper Stephen Fung.
Through the first half, SDSU owned a 10-5 lead in shots, while controlling the possession for the majority of the play.
Early in the second half, San Diego State almost took the lead on a play set up by Wallace. Wallace played a nice through ball past the Husky defense to redshirt junior Steve Beitashour (San Jose, Calif.), but Beitashour's left-footed shot was stopped nicely by Fung.
Following the Richards (Washington) and Diouf (San Diego State) goals, things started to pick up even more offensively. The Huskies Jo Jo Katz had the next good scoring opportunity in the 64th minute when he took a cross from Richards on the right side and had his point blank shot saved by a game Rosales. Three minutes later, SDSU freshman Daniel Steres (Calabasas, Calif.) had his chance from just outside the box miss wide left.
In the 83rd minute, the Aztecs had two chances 30 seconds apart. Sanchez had his attempt from 22 yards saved by Fung. Then, Diouf got free on some nifty moves before his shot found Fung for the save.
In the 86th minute, Rosales once again came up big with a nice stop on Tucker-Gangness. On the ensuing San Diego State counterattack, redshirt freshman Pedro Adan (San Diego, Calif./Preuss HS) received a well-placed through ball by Beitashour and one-timed a shot just high off the crossbar.
However, the Huskies connected on the only shot attempt of the overtime session as Cox found himself alone from about 15 yards and shot it into the right corner for the game-winner.
Rosales played all 93:32 and made five saves in the tough loss. Fung also made five saves for Washington.
Diouf had a game-high four shots to lead the Aztec offense, while Steres and Sanchez had three attempts apiece.
The Aztecs will be back in action Friday when they travel to Oregon State for a 7:30 p.m. game.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Senior goalkeeper Jorge Rosales earned Man of the Match honors for his brilliant play between the posts. Rosales, a Redwood City, Calif., native, made five stops and kept SDSU in the game after repeated spectacular saves.