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Soccer is generally perceived as a low-scoring sport. Well, tell that to the San Diego State men’s and women’s teams.
The two Aztec squads combined for 14 goals in Thursday’s double-header sweep at the SDSU Sports Deck. The men opened the twin-bill with a 7-1 win over Life Pacific; the women capped the night with a 7-0 win over the University of Pacific.
SDSU tied its women’s program record for the largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent while the lopsided victory marked the first win of the season for the Aztec men.
“We made some tactical changes at the half, and we were flying right out of the gate in the second half,” SDSU men’s head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. “I’m proud of the second half performance and I think it showed what we are capable of doing.”
Lucas Caffo and Nik Orth each scored twice and Greyson Moreno, Jaxson Hutcheon and Adam Okorodudu each scored one goal. Yahir Ocampo-Navarro, Kian McCusker and Gio Aguirre each recorded two assists.
The Aztecs scored in the 23rd minute for the only goal of the first half, scored by Moreno, assisted by McCusker and Aguirre.
SDSU held a 9-5 advantage in shots at the halftime break but wasted no time in bulging twine in the second half. Caffo scored twice in a 15-second span in the 49th minute to suddenly triple the lead. The goals were the first two career goals for Caffo, a sophomore from Point Loma High School.
McCuster and Ocampo-Navarro netted assists on Caffo’s first goal while Aguirre picked up the long assist on the secon goal.
The Warriors made a dent in the Aztec lead with their only goal of the match in the 52nd minute. Angel Ballesteros got credit for the tally in cleaning up a deflected shot attempt by Jesus Pitalla-Cruz.
Orth scored on a penalty kick in the 70th minute, Hutcheon in the 77th minute, Okorodudu in the 80th minute and Orth again in the dying moments of the match on a 25-yard free kick.
The goal was the first career goal ofr Okorodudu, a freshman.
Trevor Wilson (one goal allowed in 77 minutes) and Andrew Koott (no goals allowed in 13 minutes) manned the SDSU net.
The Aztecs out-shot Life Pacific 23-4 in the second half. Carlos Rodriguez finished with 13 saves for the visitors.
Every single healthy field player for SDSU appeared in the match and played at least 10 minutes.
“Lucas is our little energizer bunt,” Hopkins said. “We always know he can give us a jolt of energy. He is a fantastic kid, and we were happy to see him get rewarded tonight.”
The Aztecs (1-1-1) next play at Cal Poly Sunday at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
Lady Aztecs
The women’s game kicked off at 7:30 p.m. as the rising moon was undergoing an eclipse. By the end of the match, the eclipsed portion of the lunar disc was a deep red.
It was an ominous sign from the heavens.
The Lady Aztecs dominated the match with 64-36 percent possession and held a 19-7 shot advantage over the Lady Tigers.
Katie Senn led SDSU with two goals while Naima Castro, Rory Schank, Victoria Miller, Alexis Leath and Maya Stinson each scored single goals. Alexyz Nakamoto and Leath (West Hills) picked up assists on Senn’s first goal of the season while Kenny Moore drew the assist on Castro’s tally. Nakamoto and Leath combined on assists on Senn’s brace goal.
Senn’s two goals tied her career total entering the match. Schank scored the first goal of her collegiate career while Castro and Stinson each scored their first goal in a SDSU uniform while Moore recorded an assist for the first time as a Lady Aztec. Cayden Chowana-Bandhu and Mia DeJohn each recorded their first collegiate assists.
The shutout was the third in four matches for SDSU (3-1). Pacific remained winless at 0-3. Chula Vista’s Kailey Carlen was credited with one goalkeeper save for the Lady Aztecs. Sammy Martinez finished the game in the SDSU cage for the final 14 minutes with one save.
The Lady Aztecs next play three road matches: Oklahoma State (Sept. 3), Texas Tech (Sept. 6) and Utah Valley (Sept. 12). All three matches will be streamed on ESPN+ for paid subscribers.
Seeing double
Thursday’s double-header was the second for SDSU in the span of a week after the men and women’s teams combined fo a double-dip on Sunday at the SDSU Sports Deck. In that one, played under very warm conditions (96-degree temperature), the Aztec men tied Navy 2-2 while the Lady Aztecs shaded Portland State 1-0.
Moore put SDSU up 1-0 in the 10th minute. The Lady Aztecs peppered Portland State keeper Finley Crabtree with shots throughout the rest of the match but couldn’t find the back of the net despite a 20-7 edge in shots. SDSU finished with a 59-41 percent possession advantage.
Crabtree finished the match with six saves. Carlen was called on to make her only save of the match in the 38th minute.
Carlen lowered her career goals-against average to 1.08 with the shutout to move her in a tie with Lorena Snyder for best-best career mark in program history among qualified goalkeepers.
Chowana Bandhu made her first collegiate start and attempted five shots, including two on target.
In the men’s game, the Aztecs held the lead twice on goals by Aguirre, who scored his first two career goals. However, both times Navy drew the equalizer. The tie did provide SDSU with its first result of the season following a season-opening 2-0 loss to visiting Liberty on Aug. 20.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Hopkins said. “We fet like we gave away two points. Having led twice, we shouldn’y have conceded those goals.”
SDSU out-shot Navy 16-6 with Midshipmen goalkeepers combining to make seven saves om the nine shots on target.
Aguirre scored in the 28th and 71st minutes. He one-touched in a pass from Moreno on the first strike and converted a feed from McCusker, streaking down the middle, on the team’s second goal.
Navy tied the match, 1-1, in the 48th minute on a goal by Jack Illig (Nick Gallucci cross) and, 2-2, in the 79th minute on a goal by Cohen Nance.
Aguirre is a homegrown product from San Marcos.
“It was so awesome to see him get two goals,” the SDSU coach said. “He’s a hometown kid that graduated high school early to join us in the spring and his present and future are unbelievably bright.”
