No. 15 SDSU And Santa Clara Play To 1-1 Tie

by Beau Bearden

September 16, 2012

The No. 15/16/16 San Diego State women’s soccer team, coming off a grueling 1-0 setback to defending national champion Stanford on Friday, scored early in its contest with Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon but had an injury directly affect the outcome in a 1-1 tie with the Broncos. The draw puts the Aztecs’ record at 7-1-1, while Santa Clara watches its record move to 4-2-3.

It was an evenly played match through the opening 33 minutes as each team notched four shots. At the 34:07 mark, however, SDSU gained the upper hand. After a corner kick, senior Megan Jurado crossed a ball into the box to junior Carli Johnson who connected to give the Aztecs a 1-0 advantage.

At the 68:50 mark, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Boaz went down with an injury after a collision with a Santa Clara player and had to be replaced by redshirt junior Megan Allaire. The Broncos then took advantage of SDSU’s misfortune in the 88th minute to even the score at 1-1 when Julie Johnston sent a ball to Olivia Klei in the box, who took the ball on a bounce and managed to connect for the score.

SDSU’s defense held steady through the opening half, especially after the Aztecs scored their goal. Santa Clara was unable to connect on two shots that were just off the mark and trailed 1-0 at halftime.

In the second period, the Aztecs wasted little time out of the gate. Sophomore Hannah Keane was first to nearly connect as she fired a point-blank shot in the 58th minute that required a save from Bronco goalkeeper Andi Tostanoski.

San Diego State had another great scoring opportunity in the 80th minute when sophomore Haley Locker broke away from the defense and found herself one-on-one with Tostanoski. Locker was unable to notch an attempt though, as Tostanoski slid in and stole the ball.

Santa Clara finally managed to score the equalizer late in the game to send it into overtime. The Aztecs never game up though as they kept fighting down the stretch despite fatigue setting in.

Boaz returned to her spot in goal at the start of overtime and was instrumental in preventing the Broncos from scoring as she had to notch a number of game-saving stops.

Two SDSU players were named to the 2012 Santa Clara All-Classic Team in Johnson and redshirt senior Tiffany Hurst.

The Aztecs now return home for a contest with UC Irvine at 5 p.m. PT on Friday at the SDSU Sports Deck.