SAN FRANCISCO — Carlos Trujeque leal netted a pair of goals and assisted on another as the San Francisco State men's soccer team defeated No. 9 UC San Diego 3-1 on Sunday at Cox Stadium.
The loss was the first of the season for the Tritons (9-1-2/3-1-2), who fall into seventh place in the CCAA standings. With the win, San Francisco State (7-2-3/4-2-2 CCAA) catapults into third place with 14 points, a point behind second-place Cal State San Bernardino.
In the 20th minute,
Clayton Sato was taken down at the top of the box by Tritons goalkeeper Pedro Enciso. Enciso was issued a yellow card, which set up the penalty kick for
Carlos Trujeque leal and he converted the PK for a 1-0 lead.
In the 27th minute, Trujeque leal doubled the Gators' lead with his team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Miles Burditt made a pass, which was deflected but Trujeque leal was able to get a shot off to the right of a diving Enciso. San Francisco State almost added a third goal in the 30th minute but the header was waived off as a result of an offsides flag.
UCSD cut the lead in half quickly in the second half. In the 48th minute, Christian Cordell's cross was blocked by Peter Swinkels and Jonathan Sabouri followed up on the loose ball with the empty-netter. Within a minute of subbing in, Brandt Dixon scored his second goal of the season to make it 3-1 in the 70th minute. Trujeque leal played a ball down the middle of the box and Dixon tracked it down and, caught Enciso off balance, and finished to the far post to give the Gators some breathing room.
Brandon Brunac nearly added a fourth goal in the 79th minute but it was saved by a leaping Enciso. That resulted in a Gators corner kick but
Aydan Bowers' header was saved. A minute later, at the other end, San Francisco State goalkeeper
Peter Swinkels was issued a yellow card just outside of the box but Jeff Powers' header off of the free kick drifted wide. Miscommunication at the defensive end led to a scary moment as Swinkels collided with his own defender but Jeff Powers sent a shot to a wide-open net simply wide.
The Gators hit the road for their next two matches at Cal State Monterey Bay on October 12 and at Cal State East Bay on October 14. Live stats will be available at at
sfstategators.com and in-game updates will be available on Twitter at
@sfstate_msoc.
