SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team (7-4-2, 4-0-0) took over sole possession of first place in the WAC with a 2-1 win over Seattle (6-4-3, 3-1-1) Thursday evening.
The Redhawks, who hadn’t lost a conference match in two years, outshot the Aztecs 20-5 but just 5-3 in shots on goal.
With the win, SDSU improves to a perfect 4-0-0 start to conference play for the first time in program history.
“A beautiful night for Aztec soccer,” Head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. “We showed a lot of character and heart to beat Seattle, who is a very good team.”
The Aztecs received goals from Terence Okoeguale and Robbie Matei in the 20th and 58th minute to offset Seattle’s 28th minute goal. Both Okoeguale and Matei have five goals on the season, putting them in a three-way tie with Austin Brummett for the team lead.
Both teams have goals in the first 15 minutes taken away from an offsides call.
The Aztecs got on the board first in the 20th minute after Matei was taken down inside the box to set up an Okoeguale penalty kick.
The Redhawks’ answered back eight minutes later with a goal from Edgar Leon that was assisted by Titus Washington and Richy Lapointe-Guevara.
SDSU was outshot 11-2 in the first half.
“I don’t think we had a great first half,” Hopkins explained. “We were a little timid and we challenged them to be more courageous and they were phenomenal in the second half.”
Matei scored in the 58th minute, his third game-winner of the season, finishing an assist from Okoeguale and Austin Brummett.
Seattle continued to pepper the Aztecs with shots in the second half, but only put two on frame in the final 45 minutes.
Aztec goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia made four saves and improved to 4-0-0 in WAC play.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Seattle had 20 shots, but just five on goal.
THE NOTE
This is the first time the Aztecs have started conference play 4-0-0.
QUOTE OF THE MATCH
“We had some tough times in the non-conference, but that prepared us for the difficult challenges in the WAC. We continue to show up every game and it’s fun to see the vision starting to take hold.” Head coach Ryan Hopkins
UP NEXT
The Aztecs host San Jose State Sunday at 3 p.m.