The San Diego State men’s soccer team (7-4-2, 4-0-0 WAC) played their first conference home game at the SDSU Sports Deck on Thursday, Oct. 17 against Seattle University (6-4-3, 3-1-1 WAC) with a final score of 2-1.
This game determined whether the Aztecs or Redhawks would take first place in the WAC standings. Head coach Ryan Hopkins spoke about what they did to prepare for Seattle.
“We knew they were really good on counters- we knew they were very good on set pieces, service in the box,” Hopkins said. “We worked on a lot of those things all week. Good thing we’re also very good at those things.”
Both teams started off playing aggressively- both offensively and defensively. The game was going back and forth as both teams were fighting to score a goal.
It wasn’t until Seattle’s senior midfielder Demian Alvarez fouled Aztecs senior forward Terence Okoeguale at the 20-minute mark. The foul earned the Aztecs a penalty kick which Okoeguale kicked and scored to help the Aztecs take the lead 1-0.
The Redhawks responded scoring a goal at the 28-minute mark by freshman midfielder Edgar Leon with an assist by graduate student midfielder Taketo Onodera. With this goal, it helped the Redhawks stay on track with the Aztecs as the game was tied 1-1.
Hopkins mentioned what he saw on the sidelines about his team’s performance in the first half.
“We were just a little timid in the first half,” Hopkins said. “We need to be a little braver, be a little bit more courageous.”
The last goal of the match was scored by Aztecs senior forward Robbie Matei at the 58-minute mark with an assist from Okoeguale.
Matei talked about the advantages and the challenges they faced going against the Redhawks.
“We won, I think we showed that maybe we were lacking a little bit at the beginning of the season, and just shows that we’ve turned a long way being able to win a game like this,” Matei said. “I’d say we got to learn how to keep our leads better and finish games a little stronger.”
The Redhawks had a total of 20 shots while the Aztecs had five. The Aztecs had a total of 17 fouls in addition to two yellow cards given to junior forward Rommee Jaridly and senior midfielder Daniel Pacella. On the other side, the Redhawks had 15 with four yellow cards given to them.
With the win against the Redhawks, the Aztecs are in first place standing in the WAC conference. Hopkins talked about the accomplishment.
“It feels great, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears over five years to get to this point,” Hopkins said. “I don’t think anyone knows the behind-the-scenes of what we’ve had to go through, what we’re trying to build here, how we’re trying to build it and it’s fun to see it paying off. I am happy for these guys. A lot of these guys came three years ago when we didn’t have a lot to show for and they just came on belief and believe in our vision.”
Being first place in the WAC standing for Matei has shown the improvement of the team, but also trying to stay as neutral as possible because anything can happen.
“I mean we’ve grown a lot but like (if) we lose on Sunday it can change really quickly so you can’t be satisfied yet,” Matei said. “You just gotta keep winning.”
The Aztecs will host San Jose State on Sunday, Oct. 20 at the SDSU Sports Deck at 3 p.m.
“I thought the guys showed a lot of character and heart,” Hopkins said.
