San Diego State men’s soccer (10-5-3, 7-0-1 WAC) traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, for the semifinals of the Western Conference Athletic Tournament, where they lost against fifth-seeded San Jose State (6-7-7, 3-3-3 WAC) 3-2 on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
The Aztecs entered the tournament as the WAC’s regular-season champions, going undefeated in the regular season and securing them the semifinals spot in the tournament.
The Aztecs were ranked #22 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll. Prior to the tournament, several Aztecs received WAC honors.
Head coach Ryan Hopkins was named Coach of the Year, and senior goalkeeper Djibril Doumbia was named Goalkeeper of the Year.
Additionally, three players were named to the All-WAC First Team. Those who were honored included sophomore defender Reid Fisher, senior defender André Puente and senior forward Terence Okoeguale.
Junior forward Austin Brummett and senior forwards Robbie Matei were honored with All-WAC Second Team. Lastly, defender Cianole Nguepissi was honored in the All-Freshman Team.
As the match started, the Aztecs scored their first goal of the evening just 42 seconds into the game. The goal came off the Aztecs first corner kick when Brummett kicked the ball to the box in which Puente hit a header into the net.
That was the only goal scored in the first half, as both teams were attacking defensively and offensively.
By the end of the first half, the Spartans attempted five shots while the Aztecs had four. Additionally, Doumbia recorded two saves in the first half.
The Aztecs set the tone early in the second half as Puente scored off another corner kick made by Brummett at the 51-minute mark. Brummett’s kick went towards junior midfielder Beto Apolinar, who placed the ball inside the box where Puente was located and kicked the ball into the net.
After the Aztecs’ goal, the Spartans took over. At the 61-minute mark, freshman midfielder Cameron Cook made the first goal for San Jose trailing behind by one. The Spartans goal gave assists to freshman forward Daniel Fregoso Bautista and freshman defender Diego Nieves.
Three minutes later, the WAC’s Offensive Player of the Year, junior midfielder Angel Iniguez, scored the second goal at the 64-minute mark with the assist by graduate student defender Jarette Barajas, helping the Spartans tie the game at two.
Lastly, the Aztecs were down a man after Puente received his second yellow card of the match at the 78-minute mark and awarded the Spartans a free kick outside of the box. Iniguez took the shot and put the Spartans ahead 3-2.
By the end of the match, the Aztecs had a total of nine shots with two being shots on goal. The Spartans had 16 shots with six being shots on goal. Doumbia was able to record three saves.
The Aztecs recorded 17 fouls with three yellow cards given to Puente, Nguepissi and Matei in addition to Puente’s red card. As for the Spartans, they had committed a total of 10 fouls with two yellow cards.
The Spartans will move on to play second-seeded Seattle University on Saturday, Nov. 16 for the championship game.
As for the Aztecs, they are No. 45 in the RPI and will be waiting to see if they will be considered in the NCAA tournament.
