Nov. 10, 2016
LOS ANGELES -- The No. 16/15 San Diego State men's soccer team closed out its regular-season schedule on Thursday, battling No. rv/25 UCLA to a 0-0 draw in a key Pac-12 showdown at Drake Stadium.
With the result, the Aztecs (9-4-5, 4-3-3 Pac-12) clinch third place in the conference standings, matching their highest finish in league play since 2011, while the Bruins (9-7-2, 4-5-1 Pac-12) ended the year in fourth.
With its lockdown defense in full display, SDSU was led by goalkeeper Adam Allmaras, who made five clutch saves on the night to complete his league-leading 11th shutout of the season and 21st of his career, which is tied for third with former Aztec All-American Tally Hall on the school's all-time charts. In addition, forward Travis Nicklaw notched all five of SDSU's shots on goal after taking a season-high six attempts.
The Aztecs mounted their best scoring threat in the first half when Nicklaw got free on a breakaway in the 31st minute. UCLA netminder Kevin Silva came out to deflect the initial blast; however, the SDSU redshirt senior was unable to put home the rebound as the ball rolled agonizingly outside the left post.
Earlier, the Aztecs dodged a bullet when the Bruins' Abu Danladi appeared to have found daylight along the end line after maneuvering past Allmaras. However, Aztec defender Kyle Adams cut off the UCLA forward and knocked the ball out of bounds to prevent a score.
With time winding down in the second period, Allmaras came up huge once again, disrupting an advance by Reggie Cannon in the 88th minute, before stopping a shot by Jackson Yueill shortly thereafter.
The two teams fought through two 10-minute overtime periods, but were unable to put home the game-winner. Allmaras made two saves in extended play, snuffing out attempts by Brian Iloski and Felix Vobejda, respectively, before Nicklaw's final shot of the evening was gathered in by Silva with under a minute to go in the second overtime session.
In addition to Nicklaw, the Aztecs had six players finish with one shot apiece, including Debray Hollimon's blast in the 19th minute that flew just over the crossbar.
San Diego State will await word of its postseason fate when the NCAA tournament field is released on Monday, Nov. 14, starting at 10 a.m. PT on NCAA.com.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Goalkeeper Adam Allmaras was tabbed Man of the Match for the fourth time this year after notching his 11th shutout, which ranks second on the Aztecs' single-season list. In addition, the La Costa Canyon High alumnus has allowed just 12 goals so far during the 2016 campaign and currently sits in third place on the school's single-season top 10 with a 0.62 goals against average.