Sept. 7, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's soccer won an exciting match over No. 19 Denver, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon in the final day of the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Aztec Soccer Tournament at SDSU Sports Deck. In the process, the Aztecs were crowned champions of the two-day tournament ahead of UC Irvine due to the tiebreaker of goals scored.
SDSU (3-1) earned its third-consecutive victory, displaying some mental toughness along the way. The Aztecs saw a 3-1 first-half advantage disappear, only to respond with a superb defensive effort in the second half. San Diego State regained the lead for good on freshman David Olsen's goal in the 63rd minute.
Olsen was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, as his second-half goal on Sunday was his second game-winning score of the weekend. The forward from Fircrest, Wash., gathered a cross from sophomore Forrayah Bass and knocked in a diagonal shot into the left side of the net to put SDSU on top to stay, 4-3. Olsen also scored the Aztecs' first goal of the match off an assist from freshman Mark Revell.
Joining Olsen on the all-Tournament team were Bass, senior captain defender Evyn Hewett, freshman forward Jeff Rhodes and sophomore defender Julio Alarcon. Hewett played all 90 minutes in both tournament matches this weekend, while Bass tallied three assists, Rhodes scored two goals, Benamna recorded one assist and Alarcon made an impact on the back line.
With the score tied, 1-1, Rhodes scored his second goal of the season in the 23rd minute on a header from five yards out off an assist from Bass. Moments later, fellow freshman Thom Van den Berg extended San Diego State's lead to 3-1 when he got a clean shot on an empty net off a pass from Benamna in the 26th minute.
Denver rallied to tie the score, 3-3, going into halftime on Eric Kronenber's unassisted goal in the 31st minute, followed by Jordan Schweitzer's score off a corner kick from five yards out in the 40th minute. However, Olsen and the Aztecs recovered to continue their recent dominance at the Sports Deck over non-conference foes, as SDSU is now 6-3-1 against ranked, non-conference opponents since the start of the 2009 campaign, and 15-5-2 overall in non-conference home matches since 2010.
Sunday's win marks the first time the Aztecs have won three-straight matches since September of 2012, when SDSU won the UC Riverside Courtyard by Marriott Soccer Invitational. San Diego State also earned consecutive victories over top-25 opponents for the first time since 2009, when it knocked off No. 6 California and No. 17 Stanford in consecutive matches.
San Diego State redshirt freshman goalkeeper Adam Allmaras tallied three saves to earn his third victory of the season in the net, while Hewett, junior defender Casey Phillips and freshman midfielder Brady Blackwell each played all 90 minutes in the win.
Man of the Match: Freshman forward David Olsen was named Man of the Match and Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Aztec Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player on Sunday afternoon, as the forward scored the Aztecs' game-winning goal for the second-consecutive match. Olsen now has a team-high three goals and six points in his first season on Montezuma Road, as he scored twice on just two shots on Sunday. Prior to attending San Diego State, Olsen led Jefferson High (Wash.) to consecutive state championships in 2010 and 2011.
THE COURTYARD MARRIOTT SD CENTRAL AZTEC SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Final Tournament Results
1. San Diego State University 2-0-0 6 pts. CHAMPION by goals for tiebreaker criteria
2. UC-Irvine 2-0-0 6 pts.
3. Denver 0-2-0 0 pts. Third by goals for tiebreaker criteria
4. Clemson University 0-2-0 0 pts.
MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE PLAYER
#17 David Olsen FWD San Diego State University
(Three goals on the weekend with two being GWG)
MOST OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER
#8 Mats Bjurman MF UC-Irvine
(As defensive midfielder scored GWG on Friday and anchored Irvine midfield in their two victories)
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
#3 Julio Alarcon D San Diego State University
#7 Jeff Rhodes FWD San Diego State University
#15 Evyn Hewett D San Diego State University
#21 Forrayah Bass FWD San Diego State University
#11 Cameron Iwasa FWD UC-Irvine
#23 Dennis Martinez FWD UC-Irvine
#25 Eduardo Calzada MF UC-Irvine
#22 Jordan Schweitzer MF University of Denver
#12 Teddy Mullin FWD University of Denver
#10 TJ Casner FWD Clemson University
#24 Chris Glodack GK Clemson University