The San Jose State men’s soccer team tied in its match against the University of San Francisco 1-1 on Thursday at Spartan Soccer Complex.
The Spartans recorded 10 shots with 7 being on goal. Sophomore midfielder Angel Iniguez scored SJSU’s only goal in the 27th minute.
“I thought we had good looks in the first half,” said SJSU head coach Simon Tobin. “We probably could have gotten a couple of great looks later, but didn't finish. [San Francisco] owned the second half.”
SJSU had chances early to put more goals on the board. In the tenth minute, Iniguez and junior midfielder Beau Leroux put up back-to-back shots, but couldn’t capitalize as Dons’ goalkeeper Eric Waltz came up with two big saves.
In the 27th minute, Iniguez broke loose up the field and received a pass from sophomore forward Anthony Guzman. Guzman’s pass was initially broken up near the center of the box from Waltz, but Iniguez was able to rebound the pass and kick the ball into the center of the net to put the Spartans up 1-0.
In the second half, USF found the equalizer when senior midfielder Arjan Dosanjh found an open shot near the center of the box to tie the game at 1-1.
SJSU’s defense held strong near the end of the game as it blocked off the Dons’ chances of taking the lead in the final 5 minutes. San Francisco had 5 shots on goal in the final 5 minutes of play, but could not convert.
“I think we're a small, undersized team, so when a team wants to impose themselves physically, it makes it difficult for us,” Tobin said. “In the first half, we moved the ball quite well and created opportunities. We kind of stopped doing that.”
The Spartans lost Monday’s match against No. 4 Stanford 2-0. They will face Saint Mary’s at 5 p.m. on Friday at Saint Mary’s Stadium in Moraga.
