PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Aztec men's soccer team lost a heartbreaking match 3-2 at No. 5 Stanford Thursday evening. After holding a lead for 71 of the match's first 75 minutes, the Cardinal scored goals in the 76th and 81st minute to rally for the late win.
Tevenn Roux and Adam Vargas scored the goals for the Aztecs, who tallied 13 shots and six on goal.
The Aztecs had back-to-back scoring opportunities in the 19th minute. Tristan Weber received a great lead pass on the left wing and sent a cross to the far post to Blake Bowen, who headed the ball just over the cross bar.
On the Aztecs' next possession, Tevenn Roux finished a nice pass from defender Reagan Sherlock to give SDSU the early lead.
Stanford tied the match in the 37th minute, executing a set piece on a long free kick near the sideline.
Four minutes after a costly Cardinal foul, SDSU retook the lead when Adam Vargas converted a penalty kick in the 41st minute.
SDSU went to the halftime break with a 9-3 shot advantage but saw the Cardinal outshoot them 11-4 in the second half.
Stanford's late game heroics started in the 76th minute when Ousseni Bouda, who scored the game-winning goal at SDSU a few weeks ago, beat a charging Max Watkin to find an empty net.
Just over four minutes later, Zach Ryan headed in a Logan Panchot corner kick for the game-winning goal.
Aztec goalkeeper Max Watkin collected five saves in the loss.
STAT OF THE MATCH
After having six shots on goal in the first half, SDSU had zero in the second frame.
THE NOTE I
The Aztecs have played in nine games decided by one goal or less, going 2-6-1 in those matches.
THE NOTE II
The Aztecs are now 1-5-0 when they score first.
UP NEXT
SDSU plays at Cal Sunday at 3 p.m. PT. The match will be shown on the Pac-12 Network.
No. 5 Stanford Rallies to beat SDSU 3-2
