Oct. 26, 2014
San Jose, Calif. - Freshman striker Greg Harte provided all the offense that the San José State men's soccer team would need as the Spartans blanked the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners 2-0 on Sunday afternoon on Spartan Soccer Field.
Harte scored both goals, his sixth and seventh of the year, in the second half and along with Ruben Want led the team with three shots.
"Greg is an important player for us up top," head coach Simon Tobin said. "Although he's a freshman, he is starting to learn how to finish. He's still very raw in a lot of stuff he does but it's important to have the ability to score from a couple of places. When he and Rory (Kinbbs) are out there together it just makes things easier for everyone."
San José State (5-8-1, 3-2-1 WAC) out shot the Roadrunners 5-3 in the first 45 minutes and put three attempts on frame, but the sides went to the half level at 0-0.
"The first half was a bit of a nothing game, I thought," Tobin said. "For the first 10 minutes we played quite poorly. The game was lacking in personality before halftime.
"In the second half, we made a concerted effort to take the game and win it. It was one of our most professional performances. We created good chances and kept it quite secure in the back. Overall we had a lot of good performances."
The Spartans first really dangerous chance came in the 48th minute. Carlos Valdovinos drove down the right side turned the corner on the Bakersfield defender and served a ball high into the box. Want threw a flying scissor kick at the ball and hammered it off the crossbar.
Five minute later Harte struck. Johnathan Colunga played a throughball onto the foot of Want at the top right side of the 18. Want passed across the goal to Harte, on the left side of the six, where he put it back to the lower right corner for a 1-0 Spartans lead.
Then at the 74:25 mark he struck again, this time unassisted. Frankie Beauchamp played the ball into the box where a scramble ensued. Colunga made a play on it, but missed. It came right to Harte near the end line on the left side of the goal and he popped it over 'Runners keeper Nicolas Clever for a 2-0 lead and the final margin.
Felix Petermann made four saves in earning the win and recorded his second clean sheet of the year. Clever made five saves in the loss.
San José State came into this game seeking redemption for a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Bakersfield (8-6-1, 2-4-0 WAC) in its conference opener on October 4. Since that game the Spartans have outscored their opponents 11-4 and have a 3-1-1 record.
"Since the first time we played Bakersfield, I feel we have been the better team in each of our games," Tobin said. "Although the points didn't reflect it (the Spartans had seven points in five games entering play on Sunday), I told the boys you have been the better team and you are playing very well right now. I feel we're coming to our best form of the season right now."
The Spartans sit in a tie for third place in the WAC. They are equal with Seattle U at 10 points. Incarnate Word, who are ineligible for the WAC Championship, are in second (15 points) and UNLV (18 points) sits at the top of the table with two weeks left in the regular season.
San José State travels to Grand Canyon for a match on Friday, October 31, at 6:00 p.m. and then are at UNLV Sunday, November 2 for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
Bakersfield (8-6-1, 2-4-0 WAC) vs. San Jose State (5-8-1, 3-2-1 WAC)
Date: Oct 26, 2014 Attendance: 384
Weather:
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
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Bakersfield......... 0 0 - 0
San Jose State...... 0 2 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 52:47 SJSU Harte, Greg (6) (Want, Ruben;Colunga, Johnathan) - throughball from midfield Want layed off to Harte shot low to far post
2. 74:25 SJSU Harte, Greg (7) (unassisted) - picked up on the endline and podded over keeper
Shots: Bakersfield 8, San Jose State 11
Saves: Bakersfield 5 (Clever, Nicolas 5), San Jose State 4 (Petermann, Felix 4)