The air was frigid, the skies were cloudy and gray, and the sunnever showed itself.
Friday’s abnormal San Diego weather was a perfect comparison toSan Diego State’s men’s soccer team’s disappointing 1-0 loss to CSUFullerton (7-4-0) at the Sports Deck.
An unlikely goal by Titan’s forward Brent Whitfield at the 70thminute proved to be the game winner. Senior midfielder Ricky Melendezwas credited with the assist.
“It’s disappointing,” said SDSU defender Kyle Wiggs. “But there’sgood and bad that comes out of it.”
The Aztecs were presented with a few clear chances to score in thefirst half of the game, but could not cash in on any of them.
“We had three golden opportunities in the first 15 minutes,” saidhead coach Lev Kirshner. “We just simply couldn’t tuck any away.”
At the 17th minute, a close call for SDSU brought quite a few’oohs’ from the crowd. Freshman forward Mike Klotovich recovered acorner kick deflected off the goalpost from junior midfielder EnriqueTovar, but his shot attempt missed the goal by inches.
With SDSU’s defenders clearing balls out of their territory andquickly cutting off passing lanes, Fullerton had no clear scoringopportunities in the first period. Both teams managed only four shotsin the first half and neither recorded a shot on goal.
In the second period the Titans turned on their offensive attack.They attempted 14 shots, five on goal. Aztecs goalie Brian Barnes wasable to stop four — all but the fluke goal.
Barnes made a tremendous effort on the play in which the winninggoal was scored. After deflecting a shot attempt from a Fullertonplayer, Barnes rejected a second shot in a row while lying on theground. The ball then bounced off three different players and thecrossbar, before it found its way into the back of the net.
Barnes collected four saves for SDSU on the day, increasing hisseason total to 59.
The loss was the third straight for the Aztecs, dropping them to4-8-0 on the season. However, the team feels its poor record does notjustly reflect the effort they are putting forth this year.
“We know our record doesn’t show (our efforts) right now,” Wiggssaid. “But after our games, the teams we play are wondering how wecan possibly be 4-8.”
Kirshner also feels confident his team will maintain its composureafter the loss.
“Fullerton didn’t dominate us like they have in the past today,”said Kirshner. “I’m very proud of our guys and the effort they areputting forth.”
SDSU will be on the road for its next four games. The Aztecs willtravel to San Luis Obispo this Friday to take on Cal Poly.
