San Diego State forward Rommee Jaridly rescued the Aztecs from a shutout just minutes away from the final whistle of the first crosstown match of the men’s soccer season against the University of San Diego at Snapdragon Stadium on Friday, ending the game 1-2.
“It was a big goal, it felt great. It was the first I’ve scored at Snapdragon, in a big stadium like this, so it was an awesome feeling,” Jardily said. “But, you know, still a loss, and we gotta get better for the next game.”
When the San Diego colleges last faced off in August 2024, the Toreros got the upper hand on the Aztecs, shutting them out 0-3. This time, with both teams coming off a win, SDSU defeated Life Pacific 4-0, and USD beat out University of Denver 3-2.
“I told our guys that felt like an NCAA tournament second-round type of game,” said head coach Ryan Hopkins. “And in those games, you can’t make those big mistakes I felt like we did on the first two goals.”
The Toreros struck first, and they struck early. Just three minutes into gametime, midfielder Cesar Bahena sent an unassisted shot into the bottom left corner straight past the fingertips of the Aztecs’ keeper, Eddy Vargas, to put USD up 0-1.
The early goal slowed down the Aztecs’ momentum, and SDSU barely had a glimpse of the Toreros’ goal until the first and only shot of the half– compared to USD’s nine– was taken by Jaridly at 22’, resulting in a corner kick but nothing more.
Following Jaridly’s attempt was a series of events that had Aztec fans cheering for what they thought was a goal. A corner kick for SDSU seemed to have been caught by Torero goalkeeper Adam Salaman, but the ball slipped out of his gloves towards the eager feet of senior defender Baptiste Boit, who popped it over the keeper into the net. Unfortunately, the review of the play decided Boit had fouled in the box and took away the ever-so-close goal.
Chaos continued at the Aztecs’ defensive end at minute 32 when midfielder Carson Ballagh’s intended clear accidentally hit his teammate, giving USD’s Steven Ramirez a shot on goal saved by Vargas. The play didn’t end there, as the block rebounded straight to USD’s Oliver Rhoades, giving the Toreros a second consecutive shot before a foul on USD got the Aztecs out of trouble.
“We didn’t start well,” Hopkins said. “I didn’t give a lot of tactics in the locker room, I might have thrown a pen against the whiteboard, and I feel like they just needed to wake up.”
SDSU certainly came in swinging at the second half– maybe a bit too much so, with referees dishing out yellow cards to Beckett Miller and Baptiste Boit in the first three minutes of the half. A third yellow card was handed to Christian Engmann at 57’.
The Aztecs used their second-half energy to open up some chances at the 53rd minute, when a throw-in from SDSU had USD’s keeper barreling out of the goal. Salaman’s messy collection left the door open for consecutive shots by Jaridly and Stephan Moreira, but the Aztecs couldn’t follow through, and both shots were blocked.
70 minutes in, Vargas earned his second save of the day after the Toreros’ goalscorer Bahena sent a shot straight into the bottom center of the goal.
Vargas couldn’t prevent the Toreros’ second goal of the match at 77 minutes in. Forward Steven Ramirez made it look easy, taking a clean first touch off the assist from midfielder Oliver Rhoades and slipping a goal past Vargas into the bottom right corner. The goal put USD up 0-2, leaving SDSU with just 13 minutes to answer back.
Just as the Toreros were easing themselves into the idea of a shutout win, the Aztecs finally spoke up. A pass in the 86th minute from defender Dylan Presto opened up a header for Carson Ballagh, who set Jardily up perfectly to pop the ball past Vargas into the left side of the net.
“Once that goal ended, we for sure got an extra bit of energy,” Jardily said. “But the clock wasn’t really in our favor; we only had a few minutes left, so that was a bummer.”
In the end, the Aztecs couldn’t recover from the Toreros’ two goals and lost their second match of the season, 2-1.
The Aztecs have some work to do to prepare for Friday’s match against Santa Clara, and Hopkins is hoping to focus on communication and getting the team comfortable telling each other what they need.
“Our culture, our willingness to do things for each other, is also so you can have an honest conversation with people,” said Hopkins. “I still think they’re a little bit scared of hurting feelings, but I’m like, guys, that’s what a family does. That’s love.”
The tight-knit team might have had a tough match, but it was a valuable one nonetheless. “I think you need games like that as testing points, as opportunities to test your resiliency, and I think we’ve shown a good amount of resiliency,” Hopkins said, finding the positives after a tough match. “I’m excited to see how this group responds.”
