Oct. 20, 2013
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Senior midfielder Abraham Villon scored a goal in the 67th minute to lead the San Diego State men's soccer team to a road victory over Oregon State, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at Paul Lorenz Field.
Villon made moves past two Oregon State defenders and scored from the top of the box for his sixth goal of the season. Villon leads the Aztecs with 17 points, as he entered the week ranked first in the Pac-12 Conference in points per match, and tied for third in both goals and goals per match.
"Our attention to detail and mistake-free football was the difference today," SDSU head coach Lev Kirshner said. "The squad played with an edge and (Villon) made a special play to break down a compact defense that made us struggle for more goals. It was a great win, and we'll get ready to play the same opponents next weekend."
The Aztecs outshot the Beavers 13-11 and had a 7-4 edge in corner kicks. Villon, senior Blake Wise, senior Casey Meuser and freshman Casey Macias each recorded two shots, while senior goalkeeper Blake Hylen finished with five saves for his third shutout of the season.
San Diego State (4-7-1, 1-3-1 Pac-12) came out strong early, as the Aztecs took the first four shots of the match. A shot by senior Kody Duff was saved by Oregon State goalkeeper Matt Bersano in the 33rd minute, as SDSU outshot OSU 6-4 in the first half.
Hylen turned back consecutive shots by Oregon State's Borce Atanasov in the 62nd and 63rd minutes to keep the match scoreless, and Alec Petit's shot in the 64th minute was stopped by a diving save by Bersano, before Villon scored his game-winning goal just three minutes later. Hylen added a save on another shot by Atanasov in the 70th minute, and stopped Brenden Woodfull's shot in the 89th minute to preserve the victory.
San Diego State returns to the pitch on Friday, Oct. 25, as the Aztecs play host to No. 3/3/3 Washington, beginning at 7 p.m. PT, at SDSU Sports Deck.
Man of the Match: Senior midfielder Abraham Villon (Garden Grove, Calif.) was named Man of the Match on Sunday after scoring the game-winning goal in the 66th minute. Villon leads San Diego State this season with 17 points.