RIVERSIDE, CALIF. – The San Diego State men’s soccer team scored two second half goals in a two-minute span to rally to win at California Baptist 2-1 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals Saturday night. The Aztecs will play the winner of No. 1 seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed UC Riverside in the Pac-12 Championship match next weekend for a chance to advance to the NCAA tournament.
“I can’t say enough about this group,” Head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. “So many teams would have folded the tent on the season with what we have been through. But this group is special and we kept fighting, growing and learning. We keep developing week after week and that was without a doubt our best performance of the year.”
The Aztecs outplayed CBU earlier on, but Lancers took the lead in the 42nd minute when Nicholas Coope scored following a deflection from a Blake D’Agostino shot. Entering the match, CBU was 12-0-0 when scoring first.
SDSU’s first goal came from Jaxson Hutcheon in the 74th minute. It was Hutcheon’s team-high sixth goal on the year.
Exactly two minutes later, Luke Fischer, who transferred from California Baptist, headed in an Oscar Emilio Trujillo Lizarraga free kick to put the Aztecs in the lead.
The Aztec defense was stout all night and they allowed just one shot on goal in the second half.
Both teams finished with 11 shots, although the Aztecs edged the Lancers 6-4 in shots on goal.
With the win, SDSU remains undefeated against Pac-12 opponents.
STAT OF THE MATCH
SDSU is averaging just one goal allowed in their seven Pac-12 matches, the lowest in the conference.
THE NOTE
Entering the match the Aztecs were 0-5-4 on the road, 0-6-2 when their opponent scores first and 0-7-3 when trailing in a match.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs await Sunday’s semifinal match between No. 1 Oregon State and No. 4 UC Riverside to see who they will play in the Pac-12 Championship match next weekend. If UC Riverside wins, the Aztecs will host the Highlanders.