The San Jose State men’s soccer team continues its strong season with a 1-0 victory against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Monday at the Spartan Soccer Complex.
The Spartans (5-1-2 WAC) faced the Rebels (4-3-2 WAC) during a crucial game in their journey to clinch the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular-season title.
The game started slow and although both teams played tough they didn’t have much luck scoring.
With only 3 overall shots and 1 shot on goal, it was clear both teams played with strong defense. Neither team could successfully score despite continuous back-and-forth action.
After halftime, the teams returned to the field and began to find their grooves.
The Spartans successfully pulled off a shot on goal with assistance from midfielders Willy Miranda and Carlos Gomez-Zavala.
It wasn’t until Minute 68 that the Spartans set themselves apart.
Gomez-Zavala and Miranda assisted forward Rudi Castro, setting off a string of plays that were just what the game needed.
Castro snuck in the center field and kicked the ball directly past the Rebels’ goalie. The goal left both teams surprised because of how fast the play happened.
Monday’s goal wasn’t Castro’s only accomplishment. The SJSU forward was also named WAC’s Offensive Player of the Week.
Castro proved just how qualified he was to receive the title because his goal shifted the tone of the game from that point forward.
The Spartans boosted their morale after the goal and played with more pep in their steps.
The goal and energy boost were enough to carry the team to victory. SJSU played until Minute 90 and kept the 1-0 lead.
This is the Spartans’ fourth consecutive win of the season.
Head coach Simon Tobin expressed his excitement for this season’s team.
“Today, the key was to play more players than we normally do and it just shows the strength of our squad and the quality,” Tobin said during a
post-game interview posted to the SJSU men’s soccer Twitter. “We are quite deep this year. We got good players.”
He attributed SJSU’s win to rotating its players more than usual this week.
“The key, especially tonight, was having a lot of depth and every player to play came out today and gave us some quality moments,” Tobin said.
The team shared its excitement over the win, especially after returning from spring break.
“All smiles for our fourth straight dub,” a post read on the men’s soccer Twitter account.
The Spartans win at the Spartan Soccer Complex takes the team one step closer to a season title.
SJSU is scheduled to play one more home game during its regular season Friday at 7 p.m. against Seattle University. The game will also be the team’s senior night.
