SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team (5-7-0, 1-1-0) fell to Grand Canyon (8-2-1, 2-0-0) 1-0 in their conference home opener Thursday evening. The Aztecs outshot the ‘Lopes 11-8, including a 10-2 advantage in the first half, but Grand Canyon scored 86 seconds into the contest.
“We responded really well to adversity,” Head coach Ryan Hopkins said about the team’s response after giving up the early goal. “We were the better team for the remainder of the first half, but we’ve got to capitalize on our chances.”
Grand Canyon’s goal came from freshman Junior Diouf, his 11th of the year. He was assisted by Max Kiefer and Ben Assane.
The ‘Lopes would only have one more shot attempt the rest of the first half while the Aztecs had 10. Their best opportunity came in the 44th minute when SDSU was awarded a penalty kick following a review. Juan Zepeda’s shot was blocked by a diving stop by the GCU keeper.
In the 50th minute, Zepeda blocked a shot that nearly crossed the end line. The play was reviewed and upheld, keeping the score at 1-0.
GCU controlled the tempo in the second half and outshot SDSU 6-1.
Aztec goalkeeper Eddy Vargas only made one save, but it was a high degree of difficulty.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Aztecs outshot GCU 10-2 in the first half and then were outshot 6-1 in the second frame.
UP NEXT
SDSU hosts UNLV Sunday at 7 p.m.