OMAHA, Neb. – The Aztec men's soccer team (0-3-1) came back to tie No. 7 Creighton (2-1-1) 2-2 on the road Monday evening. The Blue Jays scored twice early, including one less than a minute into the contest, but SDSU battled back behind two goals from freshman CJ Fodrey to earn their first result on the road against a top ten team in six years.
"I'm really proud of an excellent result on the road," Head coach Ryan Hopkins said. "We have been asking for the next level in everything that we do from training to games and we found that tonight. The guys executed the tactics flawlessly and stuck together through periods of adversity. Now we have that performance that we can look back to and say that's the standard as we push ourselves to even higher levels."
The Blue Jays wasted no time, scoring 37 seconds into the match when Dominic Briggs dribbled down the right wing before finding Jackson Castro in the middle of the box who finished it with his left foot above a diving Jacob Castro.
In the 27th minute Owen O'Malley was on the left wing and went for the far post, but an Aztec defender deflected it which redirected it inside the near post.
In the 38th minute, SDSU got on the board with some nifty passing. Joe Daluz found Javi Camargo who immediately sent a lead pass to fellow freshman CJ Fodrey who sent a one-timer from the top of the box inside the right post. It was the second assist on the year for both Daluz and Camargo.
That was the Aztecs' only shot on goal in the first half, and they trailed 7-4 in shots overall.
In the 53rd minute, SDSU goalkeeper Jacob Castro had a huge sequence, making a pair of fantastic diving saves in a three second stretch. His first save he dove to his left to deflect it, but it went right to a Blue Jay who fired a shot from short distance and then Castro lunged from the ground to make another save.
This would prove to be critical because four minutes later the Aztecs scored the equalizer. Again, great passing set up the opportunity. This time it was Blake Bowen to Beto Apolinar who then found CJ Fodrey in the middle of the box for the left footed finish.
In the 85th minute, CJ Fodrey nearly netted a hat trick and the game-winner. He took advantage of a Blue Jay miscue to collect the ball near midfield. He then had a fastbreak and tried to chip in a left footer inside the far post and it bounced off the far post.
The Aztecs were outshot 18-7, which included a Creighton advantage of 11-3 in the second half, but Jacob Castro made multiple game-saving stops to preserve the draw. The Blue Jays also outcornered SDSU 10-3.
STAT OF THE GAME
This is the Aztecs' first road result against a top ten team since 2016.
THE NOTE
Creighton entered the evening tied for the nation lead with 4.67 goals per game.
UP NEXT
SDSU returns home next weekend to host UNLV Friday and Denver Sunday. Both matches are at 7 p.m.
Aztecs Rally for 2-2 Draw at No. 7 Creighton
