June 17, 2015
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior Travis Nicklaw scored the game-winner for Guam in a 2-1 victory over India in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match at the Guam Football Association National Training Center on Tuesday. The decision moved Guam (6 points) to the top of Group D, which includes Oman (3 points), Iran (1 point), Turkmenistan (1 point) and India (0 points).
A graduate of University City High School in San Diego, Nicklaw took a pass from his brother, Shawn, touched it twice in the box before putting his shot into the right side of the net. The 62nd-minute goal was the rising junior's first international goal and gave Guam a 2-0 lead. India later scored just ahead of the final whistle to provide the final margin.
The victory was notable considering Guam is the 174th-ranked country in the FIFA rankings and India sits 33 spots ahead at No. 141. Additionally, this is only the second time Guam has attempted to qualify for the World Cup. Back in 2002, it dropped two matches by a combined score of 35-0.
Nicklaw is coming off a 2014 campaign that saw him score once in 18 games, which featured 10 starting assignments. As a true freshman, the midfielder played in 17 games (10 starts) before utilizing his redshirt season in 2013.