The San Diego State men’s soccer team (10-4-3, 7-0-1 WAC) finished their regular season with a 2-0 victory against the Air Force Academy (1-15-1, 1-8-0 WAC) on Sunday, Nov. 3 at the SDSU Sports Deck.
In the first half of the match, both teams were putting up a fight.
It wasn’t until the 29-minute mark that a Falcon player fouled senior forward Robbie Matei, earning the Aztecs a penalty kick. Senior forward Terence Okoeguale scored the penalty kick for the Aztecs, giving them the lead 1-0.
After the goal, the game was quiet as both teams were still battling to score.
Head coach Ryan Hopkins mentioned what he told his team during halftime.
“Just continue to do what we do and just raise the intensity a little bit,” Hopkins said. “I thought we’d gone off to a little bit of a slow start from an intensity standpoint which is our trademark and we just reminded the guys of that.”
In the second half, at the 55-minute mark, sophomore defender Reid Fisher scored a header to help the Aztecs maintain their lead to 2-0. The goal gave assists to senior midfielder Jules Anderson and junior forward Austin Brummett.
The Aztecs had a total of 17 attempted shots while the Falcons managed a total of five.
Senior goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia made six saves, making it his fourth straight shutout.
The Aztecs received a total of 15 fouls, earning a yellow card at the 62-minute mark towards Fisher.
This game determined if the Aztecs would be crowned as WAC’s regular season championship as they only needed a win or a tie.
The Aztecs were undefeated in conference play and it was the first time in program history that the men’s soccer team won a conference championship.
“It’s been a long five-year journey to get to this point and become champions,” Hopkins said. “Just so proud of the program so proud of the boys you know what we’ve accomplished this season.”
Junior forward Rommee Jaridly was speechless after the game.
“It’s unbelievable I mean I am never going to forget this day,” Jaridly said. “I am lost for words I don’t know what to say.”
Team captain and junior midfielder Beto Apolinar shared what the moment felt like to him on a personal level.
“I couldn’t do it without the group,” Apolinar said. “Being able to lead the team as captain means a lot to me.”
Brummett talked about the sense of community and the growth he has accomplished with his teammates since joining the Aztecs.
“It’s really special to me because we have a lot of guys that have been here for a while,” Brummett said. “We have a few new guys and we welcomed them in really quickly. I think you know going through all these past 3 years these ups and these downs with these boys to be able to finally win a championship together is the most special thing.”
Hopkins talked about the determination this year’s team brought.
They never make it easy on me, that’s for sure,” Hopkins said. “But at the end of the day, they’re champions and they did everything we asked them.”
Although the regular season ended, Brummett is ready for the WAC Tournament.
“Our season is not over yet – we still got the conference tournament so we can celebrate this for now but I’m focused on the conference tournament already and getting ready for that,” Brummett said.
Apolinar shared the areas that the team should aim for when the tournament kicks off.
“The key is keep being gritty and staying together,” Apolinar said. “We’re going to a game where emotions are high and we get mad at each other (or) coach gets mad at us. That’s when we have to stay together the most.”
The Aztecs will head to Phoenix as they will play against the winner of San Jose State or Utah Valley on Wednesday, Nov. 13 for the Semifinals of the WAC Tournament.
“Continue to what we are doing and continue to raise the levels,” Hopkins said. “Everyones playing for their lives…We have such a tight group and I think they want to continue to play together and we just want to keep this group as long as we possibly can.”
