SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The San Francisco State men's soccer team picked up a point in the CCAA standings with a 2-2 tie on the road versus Cal State San Bernardino on Friday afternoon at Premier Field.
- SF State stands at 4-4-2/0-1-2 CCAA while third-place Cal State San Bernardino moves to 4-2-2/2-0-1 CCAA.
- Cal State San Bernardino held a 15-12 shot advantage, including 6-5 shots on goal.
- The 'yotes also held a 6-3 corner kick advantage.
- Gustavo Ferrari, who entered play ranked No. 8 in the nation in points per game, added an assist. He now has 23 total points through 10 matches (2.3 ppg).
- Evan Bjerke's second-half goal was the first of his career.
The Gators got off to a rough start when defender
DiAngelo Gleaves, getting his first start in an SF State uniform, committed a foul in the right side of the box in the third minute. That resulted in a penalty kick and the 'yotes took the early lead when Francisco Sierra put it in. SF State answered quickly though. Less than a minute later,
Denis Vezina settled a ball that came from the left side of the field into the box and played it to the front of the goal mouth to
Adrian Medina, who evened the match at 1-1.
Jeronimo Vadepena put the 'yotes up again in the 28th minute to send the Gators into the half trailing 2-1. The Gators had some opportunities, including a ball that banged off the crossbar, and broke through in the 73rd minute. The Gators countered and went all the way down the field.
Justin Wolfe played a long ball over the midline to
Gustavo Ferrari, who shook a defender and dished to
Evan Bjerke, who finished with his left foot and narrowly split the goalkeeper and the right post.
The Gators faced another scare when the 'yotes were awarded yet another PK in the 80th minute. However,
Matias Herrera Fuentes made the stop to preserve the score. With under four minutes left, Ferrari got a shot but the keeper was there to smother it and the match headed to overtime. The 'yotes had a chance in the second overtime period but saw their attack waived offside.
Herrera Fuentes finished with four saves, including the stopped PK. Cal State San Bernardino's Juan Nieves made three saves and allowed the pair of SF State goals.
"We know how tough it is to play away at San Bernardino. They are a really tough opponent, credit to them and their staff," said Head Coach Pedro Osório. "Our guys dug in deep today to come back twice and earn a draw. Our focus turns to Sunday and bringing three points back to San Francisco."
The Gators wrap up the trip to Southern California on Sunday, October 10 at 2 p.m. at Cal State San Marcos. The match will be broadcast for free on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com. Updates will also be available on Twitter at @sfstate_msoc.
