Oct. 16, 2015
SAN DIEGO - A goal in the 44th minute was all the San Diego State men's soccer team needed to shut out California, 1-0, in Pac-12 action at SDSU Sports Deck on Friday.
The win marked the Aztecs' first in conference play this season, and their first over the Golden Bears since the 2012 campaign. It also snaps a three-match losing streak, moving San Diego State's record to 6-4-2, 1-3-0 in Pac-12 play, and 5-1-1 at SDSU Sports Deck.
It was a battle of the Pac-12's two longest tenured coaches, as both San Diego State head coach Lev Kirshner and California head coach Kevin Grimes have been at their respective posts for 16 seasons. "Kevin Grimes knows me and I know them," Kirshner said. "Everything that we expected coming in to today's match took place, and we executed for a 1-0 victory."
The Aztecs started the match firing on all cylinders, spending the majority of the opening 45 minutes into the Golden Bears' third and out-shooting Cal, 9-4.
In the 18th minute, Meefout received a great ball from Rene Reyes and attempted to slip the ball into the net on a slide but the ball went just left of the net. Also generating a solid attempt was Casey Macias, who nearly broke through in the 23rd minute. He nearly broke away from double coverage while racing through the center of the pitch, and his ensuing shot went just wide.
With just 1:17 remaining in the first half, however, San Diego State netted the golden goal. After Winston Sorhaitz drew a foul just outside the 18-yard box, Meefout took the free kick. His ball went directly to the feet of Ramos, who sliced the ball into the net for the first of the Modesto, Calif., native's career.
However, California would not go down without a fight. In the 57th minute, Christian Thierjung rocketed the ball from one yard out directly into Adam Allmaras' chest and at 74:40, Jose Garcia-Carrera took a shot in the box but his attempt was knocked away by an Aztec defender to preserve the clean sheet.
"We were playing UCLA with half of our backline out," Kirshner said. "With Travis (Nicklaw) returning to the team after competing with Guam's National Team last week, it was nice to have our starting four back together and the difference shows. We were able to shut out a very potent Cal attack."
In the match, San Diego State out-shot the Golden Bears, 14-10, with Dalin Cutler, Rene Reyes and Meefout each taking three shots. The Aztecs' backline limited California to just two shots on net, helping Allmaras to his fourth shutout of the season and improving his mark to 4-4-2.
San Diego State returns to SDSU Sports Deck on Sunday for an 11:30 a.m. match against No. 3 Stanford.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Ozzie Ramos is the Aztecs' Man of the Match. The Modesto, Calif., native scored the first goal of his collegiate career, a golazo, to secure a 1-0 victory against California. A sophomore, Ramos spent 67 minutes on the pitch, and spent the majority of that time locking down the midfield to secure San Diego State's first win over the Golden Bears since 2012, and its fifth clean sheet of the season.