The San Diego State Aztecs took on the Yale University Bulldogs with a fury, shutting them out 2-0 with goals from defenders Christian Engmann and Baptiste Boit in the fifth home game of the season on Monday, Sept.15. Goalkeeper Vincent Fournier put up three crucial saves, while making just his second career start and securing his first career shutout.
After losing three games in a row, SDSU turned its fortunes around early, earning a corner within the first minute of the game, resulting in the first shot of the match from defender Tristan Viviani.
Just two minutes later, Aztecs’ midfielder Lleyton Imparato sent a clean pass to Engmann, who found the upper left corner of the net and put SDSU up 1-0.
“It kind of feels weird, being in the offensive half,” Engmann said. “But it’s always fun to get up there and get a chance.”
The early goal was the motivation the Aztecs needed to find some much-needed momentum. In the sixth minute, the Aztecs narrowly missed another goal after a throw-in gave forward Juan Zepeda an attempt at a header that soared just outside the top left corner.
“We’ve had a tough run recently. This week of practice, we came up with a word, and we tried to implement it,” Engmann said. “The word was relentless, so I’d say we’ve tried to be relentless in everything we do, and I guess we came into this game firing, so we were happy.”
Aztecs’ head coach, Ryan Hopkins, certainly thought the relentless mindset finally paid off.
“I thought we had been on the wrong side of some luck, but I think also, in sports and life, you make your own luck,” said Hopkins. “I thought tonight we have an unbelievable start and finally were able to capitalize on it with a goal.”
SDSU’s goalkeeper Vincent Fournier, starting his second match of the season, had a crucial save at 34’– his first proper scare of the match was from a shot to the bottom left from Yale forward Joseph Farouz.
The ferocious energy of the Aztecs in the first half was evident in the two yellow cards handed out– forward Rommee Jaridly saw a yellow at the 24th minute, and midfielder Beto Apolinar was given the second at the 44th.
“I think sometimes when you can get on these losing streaks in the games pile up and in college soccer, the games come fast and furious,” said Hopkins. “I think just snapping that, and getting on the right side of winning, was really important.”
Most of the end of the first half was clean passing and ball movement from 20 and 2, who were able to find 7, 8 and 14 to try and work up the field. The first half ended 1-0, SDSU, with a dominant performance from the Aztecs, putting up eight shots to the Bulldogs’ two.
Coming out slow in the second half certainly wasn’t a concern for either team: both Yale and SDSU added four fouls each just fifteen minutes into the half. Aydin Jay took the Bulldog’s 4th shot of the game down the bottom center of the goal at 52’, but Fournier was there to save the attempt. In the next minute, the Aztecs’ Tristan Viviani took a swift shot that missed to the left and rebounded off the field’s backboards.
“To be honest, I think they came out very intense, and they were, I’d say, almost reckless, and the ref was not giving us any favors. So, we had to up our intensity, or we were going to get hurt,” said Engmann.
“And I mean, I think they came out hot, but we bent but didn’t break, so that’s good.”
Though the Aztecs’ defenseman didn’t elaborate on it, Coach Hopkins wasn’t shy to share who he blamed for the ferocity of the match, alongside the fifteen total fouls for SDSU and the eight for Yale: the ref.
“I’ll be honest, I thought the ref was absolutely brutal. Didn’t control the game at all. A bunch of our guys were getting cheap shots,” Hopkins said. “Honestly, I thought it was one of the worst referee performances.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever once complained about a ref in a postgame interview, so it shows, I think, how bad he was tonight,” Hopkins added.
But the Aztecs were on a roll, and poor refereeing couldn’t stop them. In the 85th minute, a corner kick from midfielder Carson Ballagh landed into the waiting feet of Boit, who snuck it past Yale’s keeper, Conrad Lee, and into the bottom right corner of the net. The goal put the scoreboard at 2-0, SDSU, and earned Boit, a senior transfer, his first goal with the Aztecs.
The Aztecs’ next match will be on Sunday, when they take on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo back at the SDSU Sports Deck.
