San Diego State club men’s soccer had a let-down in its final game of the Aztec Cup, losing 1-0 to UC Davis on Saturday morning at SDSU.
The Aztecs opened this year’s tournament with a 1-0 win over Colorado State and a tie against Brigham Young University on Friday night.
Going into Saturday’s game, head coach Eric Woohl said he anticipated a competitive match.
“I expect a tough hard fought game, (Davis is) pretty even to us,” Woohl said. “They’re in a different division, this would be a massive win.”
The Aztecs went tit-for-tat with Davis for all but the final 10 minutes of regulation, with defender William Hammond and goalkeeper David Gasca coming up big for the team on the defensive end.
“In hard times like these, that’s when someone has to step up and just find that little gap and find our way to the goal,” Gasca said.
The defense received little help from the offense, which sputtered while unable to complete easy passes or find the holes in the defense.
Woohl praised his backline at halftime, and called out some of his offensive players.
Team leaders encouraged more communication, less sloppy play, and to hold the ball longer on offense.
Hammond, the team president, said he has a lot of duties on and off the field.
“It’s a lot of responsibility getting everyone together and keeping the club functioning right, but it’s a lot of fun,” Hammond said. “It’s a game I love to play. I have to organize the backline and make sure we keep a clean sheet.”
After the game, Mick Schaffery rallied his teammates.
“We still have a really good chance to play nationals,” Schaffery said. “If we don’t move forward and drop games we won’t make it, but we probably have a top-10 team in the nation, so we can get there.”
Schaffery said the Aztecs did not do enough on the offensive side of the ball.
“We have to control the ball, make clean passes,” Schaffery said. “That was a big point, we kept giving up the ball too easily.”
Davis head coach Adam Lewin praised SDSU for their fight until the end.
“San Diego State always has good players, they’re well coached, they’re organized,” he said. “They play just about as hard as anybody you’re going to play against.
The Aztecs finished the Aztec Cup with a 1-1-1 record.
