The San Diego State men’s soccer team played a high-stakes game on a beautiful Sunday against No. 3 University of Washington at the SDSU Sports Deck.
The Aztecs (8-6-2) had to win against the Huskies (14-2-1) to secure a bid into the NCAA Tournament but losing 1-0 to Washington has decreased the chances to make it to the final 48 teams that are chosen to compete. The Scarlet and Black are now hoping to beat UCLA on Friday, Nov.12 for a chance to make it into the tournament.
The Huskies’ only goal came 91 seconds into the match when sophomore forward Nick Scardina crept behind the Aztecs defensive line with a through ball, tapped the ball around junior goalkeeper Jacob Castro, and went straight into the net.
The Aztecs would finish the game with a 14-3 shot disadvantage to the Huskies but — according to head coach Ryan Hopkins — the second half of the match is perhaps the best performance that SDSU has had this season.
“It took us a while to get going. You never want to fall behind early, but certainly not to the number three team in the country,” Hopkins said after the match. “The guys responded, and I thought we were the better team in the second half and that those were our best 45 minutes of the year.”
SDSU scored in minute 82 with a tap-in goal by freshman defender Tadej Pirtovšek but the goal was called off after being whistled offside.
The Aztecs dominated the second half with ball possession but no clear opportunity would present itself, making it difficult for SDSU to get a goal in past the Huskies’ defense.
One significant substitution that helped the Aztecs elevate their performance in the second half was when coach Hopkins moved junior midfielder Arturo Chavez to the backline to play a center-back position.
“Our main center back was out due to suspension and our other center back got injured during the game,” Chavez said. “We just have to be ready for any moment for the call-up and that’s what’s so special about our team and we are all ready for whenever we get that call-up.”
Chavez said that the team needs to adjust to those first adversity moments in the game in order to have a good performance against UCLA.
“Those critical moments at the start of the game we have to come out strong, and if we do that against UCLA we have a good chance against them,” Chavez said.
Hopkins still has hope for the team to make it to the NCAA Tournament, but he says it’s all on their hands now.
“I told the guys that we have one more bite at the apple to make the tournament,” Hopkins said. “A win on senior night, you might just sneak yourself into the NCAA Tournament so we have to be ready. It’s one of those elimination matches so it’s going to feel like an NCAA tournament game and we have to treat it as such.”
The Aztecs are set to play their last match of the Pac-12 conference this Friday, Nov.12 at 7 p.m. against UCLA at the SDSU Sports Deck.
