SDSU picks up worst defeat of the season to CSUFullerton
BruceBourquinStaff Writer
Give the San Diego State men’s soccer team (4-11, 0-4 MPSF)credit.
Their two recent defeats came at the hands of twonationally-ranked opponents, one at No. 24 CSU Fullerton (12-3, 4-1MPSF) and the other at No. 2 UCLA (13-1, 6-0 MPSF). They playedpoorly the first game, impressively the next.
The 5-0 demolition of the Aztecs by the Titans was their worstloss since a November 1996 6-0 loss to Tulsa.
CSU Fullerton scored quickly Friday, with their first goal comingtwo minutes into the game. The team scored just 20 minutes into thegame, as SDSU found it hard to keep up.
“It was abysmal,” said assistant coach Lev Kirshner.”I havenothing to say about this game. We were absolutely horrendous.”
Former Aztecs forward Colby Jackson (’95-’96) had a goal and hisfifth assist of the year for the Titans, and had several otherchances to score.
“We just wanted to come out with a league victory,” Jackson said.”My teammate just crossed a pass to me. I just headed it in.”
CSU Fullerton forward Ricky Melendez was wide open for the firstgoal, scoring past SDSU goalkeeper Brian Barnes to the left post.Then Shaun Higgins helped put the Aztecs away with a perfect shotnear the right post to make it 3-0. Kris Hulgreen and Adam Reeveseach added two assists for the Titans.
The Titans also outshot SDSU 26-8. The outcome could have beenworse, as Barnes made several impressive saves for the Aztecs. Therewere two penalty kicks, and others were of the diving variety.
Midfielder Daniel Gotvald said the team just needs to keep itselfmentally sharp and focused.
“We played hard but we made three mistakes in the second half,”Gotvald said. “Those cost us, plus we were late on tackles. We lostconcentration, we need to defend as a team.”
Bruins nip Aztecs, 2-0
On Sunday, SDSU faced an even tougher opponent: nationalpowerhouse UCLA. The game featured the first-place team in theMountain Pacific Sports Federation against the last-place Aztecs(4-11, 0-4 MPSF).
The Bruins also didn’t find things easy either, facing a 0-0halftime score on their home field. Kirshner kept things as simple aspossible in preparing for their toughest opponent on their schedule.
“I didn’t say anything big to them,” Kirshner said. “When you havea team like this, you don’t need to say that much. I asked them ifthey wanted any scouting reports, but they were ready to play.
“We are a good team when we show up to play. We didn’t come toplay Friday, but we definitely showed up against this team. I’ll givecredit to a fine program but we can play just as well.”
UCLA outshot SDSU 11-4, but Barnes came up with his best game ofthe year, making two crucial saves in the first 10 minutes of thegame. He had to come out near the penalty box several times to makesaves off of wide-open Bruin forwards.
Barnes made eight saves for the game.
“I come out and hopefully give my team a chance to win,” Barnessaid. “I just try to keep ourselves in every game. Once again, Iapplaud our defense; we played a lot better than we did Friday night.Our defense flat-out didn’t allow many shots on goal in the firsthalf.”
Pete Vagenas and Ryan Lee scored goals for the Bruins. Vagenasscored to the left of Barnes early in the second half, and Lee gaveUCLA a two-goal lead late in the game. Vagenas also had an assist toLee’s goal.
The Bruins peppered Barnes with chances throughout the match, buthe impressed even the opposing UCLA crowd with his brilliant saves.
Bruins goalkeeper Nick Rimando also showed why he’s one of the topgoalies in the nation, making several Dominik Hasek-like saves ingoal. He jumped back for a shot, reached around with his right armand knocked the ball away. There were at least three times when theAztecs looked like they had scores, but came up empty.
Kirshner confirmed Rimando’s reputation.
“You got the best keeper in the country making a save behind hisback,” he said. “The goal was going in the net; he was beat. But heproved why he’s that good. We were hoping to sneak some goals pastthem.”
However, Kirshner wouldn’t take anything away from his own keeper.
“Barnes is a good goalkeeper,” he said. “He’s a freshman and he’sgetting valuable experience. He’s one to watch for in the next threeyears and we’re happy for him.”
UCLA sophomore Ryan Futagaki was everywhere, causing problems forthe SDSU defense with his speed. On the first goal he had an amazingassist, fully extending to head a pass to Vagenas.
“We didn’t play as a team fully,” Futagaki said. “But a win’s awin, we need a lot of work especially on defense. In the second halfwe were more aggressive and came up with a lot more shots.”
The Aztecs suffered their fourth loss in a row, but gave UCLA allit could handle.
“You can never be satisfied with a loss. But we played them well,and anytime you come into a place like this you have to come to play.I thought we competed and fought with them.
