SAN DIEGO – The Aztec men's soccer team (5-7-2, 1-4-1) lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to No. 5 Stanford (8-1-4, 2-1-3) on the SDSU Sports Deck Thursday evening after the Cardinal scored in the 90th minute.
In a wild final 15 minutes, the Aztecs went up 2-1 in the 77th minute but then saw Stanford score twice in the final seven minutes on set pieces to escape the Mesa with a victory.
"It is obviously a really disappointing result," Head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. "We battled but Stanford made more plays than we did down the stretch."
The Cardinal scored in the 7th minute to take an early lead when Shane de Flores finished a cross from Connor Evans.
The Aztecs tied it in the 35th minute when Blake Bowen scored on a beautiful cutback strike from 22 yards out.
Midway through the second frame it appeared Iñigo Villaldea had bent in a corner kick, but the referee whistled a foul on SDSU in the box to nullify the highlight goal.
Moments later, Donovan Roux was tackled hard inside the box to set up a penalty kick for Villaldea who converted to give SDSU a 2-1 advantage in the 77th minute.
The Cardinal scored the equalizer in the 84th minute after a free kick from 25 yards out on the left wing. Carlos Agostinelli found de Flores on the far side who headed it inside the box to Jackson Kill.
Stanford's game winner came with 60 seconds remaining following a corner kick that was deflected by an Aztec to Ryan Dunn who scored through a crowded box.
The Cardinal outshot SDSU 13-7 and had a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal.
THE NOTE
Iñigo Villaldea now has 11 points in seven matches.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs host Cal Sunday at 3 p.m. The Golden Bears lost at UCLA 1-0 Thursday evening.
Aztecs Lose 3-2 Heartbreaker to No. 5 Stanford
