SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men’s soccer team (3-7-9, 1-0-5) finished Pac-12 play undefeated after playing UC San Diego (7-6-4, 1-1-4) to a 1-1 draw on the SDSU Sports Deck Saturday evening. It’s the second time in the last three years that the Aztecs have gone undefeated in conference play.
With the draw, the Aztecs will be the No. 3 seed in the Pac-12 tournament and play at the No. 2 seed, California Baptist. The Aztecs tied the Lancers 0-0 two weeks ago.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” Head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. “We had so much belief that we could turn it around after non-conference play and all of a sudden we warped into the best defensive team in the Pac-12.”
The Aztecs scored their goal in the 28th minute following a long throw in from Luke Fischer. Mattia Boldrini was able to head it backwards towards the goal and Jaxson Hutcheon beat a Triton defender to the ball and knocked it in. It was Hutcheon’s fifth goal of the year, and he took over the team lead in points with 13.
The Tritons scored the equalizer in the 74th minute when Keenai Braun put back a Tyler Cash shot that hit the crossbar.
The Aztecs outshot UCSD 17-15 and held a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. They had two excellent looks from Gio Aguirre in the second half that were thwarted by excellent stops by UCSD’s goalkeeper Nic Thiele.
STAT OF THE MATCH
This was SDSU’s ninth tie of the season, which ties the NCAA all-time record (set by six other teams).
QUOTE OF THE MATCH
“No one has been able to beat us, so we feel good entering the tournament. We have been playing knockout futbol for about four weeks and that has prepared us so well. We’re built for this right now.” Head coach Ryan Hopkins on the upcoming Pac-12 tournament
THE NOTE I
Across the last three seasons, the Aztecs have lost only two of 21 conference matches.
THE NOTE II
This was SDSU’s third straight home match played in the rain.
UP NEXT
SDSU will play at California Baptist in the Pac-12 tournament semifinals.