Oct. 25, 2013
San Jose, Calif. - Freshman Rory Knibbs scored two second half goals for the San José State men's soccer team in a 3-1 Western Athletic Conference win over the Grand Canyon Antelopes on Friday night in Spartans Stadium.
Knibbs' goals, in the 52nd and 88th minutes, bookended a successful Frankie Beauchamp penalty kick. Beauchamp beat Antelopes keeper Joshua Zehring to the lower left corner at the 74:15 mark. The goal would turn out to be the game winner.
"At halftime the score was 0-0 and we had weathered some tough situations," head coach Gary St. Clair said. "We talked about forcing the action more in the second and the guys responded. We played really well for the majority of the second half. Tonight the guys were rewarded for their hard work. Throughout this year they have been in position to make their chances count. Tonight they did it."
On his first goal, Knibbs took the ball off a turnover just inside midfield. He drove down the middle and from just outside the six blasted a shot to the top of the net for his fourth goal of the season. The strike gave the Spartans (2-10-2, 2-4-0 WAC) a 1-0 lead at the 51:38 mark.
After the Beauchamp PK, he and Knibbs hooked up on the team's final score. Beauchamp, from close on the right wing hammered a low shot to the near post. Zehring stopped the attempt, but couldn't control it. The ball rolled in front of the Grand Canyon line. Knibbs pounced on it and tapped it home for his fifth goal of the year. San José State led 3-0 at the 87:48 mark.
Spartans keeper Emmanuel Espinosa had turned away the three shots that had reached him, but in the 89th minute, Grand Canyon (2-9-1, 1-4-0 WAC) broke through on Albe Sanchez Garcia's fourth goal of the year. He took a throughball and from the left side of the six scored to ruin Espinosa's bid for his third clean sheet of the year.
San José State had a slight 13-to-12 advantage in shots. Knibbs led the offense with five shots. Beauchamp took three, Enrique Montano had two and Ben Cowdrill, Jamison Loveless and Brian Ruiz Unger had one shot each.
Grand Canyon's Kyle Ciliento led his side with four attempts. Sanchez Garcia and Brandon Hanson had two shots each.
Both keepers made three saves. Espinosa improves his record to 2-4-2. Zehring falls to 2-9-1.
San José State's final home match of the year is Sunday, October 27 when they host the Air Force Falcons. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. in Spartan Stadium.