Nov. 1, 2015
Houston, Texas - The San José State men's soccer team held a 1-0 lead into the 82nd minute against Houston Baptist on Sunday afternoon, but the Huskies tied the game and then won it in overtime to hand the Spartans an ill-timed loss.
With one game left in the regular season for San José State and the top six teams making the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, SJSU finds itself in a four-way tie for fourth place. At 13 points, they are tied with UNLV, Houston Baptist and Air Force. CSU Bakersfield, who the Spartans host on Saturday afternoon in Spartan Soccer Field, sits alone in third place with 14 points.
Sunday's loss was crucial because the team does not hold the tiebreaker with either UNLV or Houston Baptist. They tied Air Force 1-1 late last month and the Falcons host UNLV and are at UMKC to finish the season. The Spartans will need to defeat CSU Bakersfield on Saturday and hope for help from other teams if they are to advance to the conference tournament.
Things looked good for SJSU (6-10-1, 4-4-1 WAC) early on. Rory Knibbs converted his third penalty kick of the season to stake the Spartans to a 1-0 lead at the 2:52 mark. It is his team-leading 11th goal of the season.
From that point on, the Huskies (8-8-1, 4-4-1 WAC) were chasing the equalizer and the score remained 1-0 as the teams went to halftime. HBU outshot the Spartans 7-to-6 and put three of its shots on goal in the first 45 minutes, but San Jose State keeper Felix Petermann turned each away.
In the second half, Houston Baptist increased the pressure on the Spartans, outshooting them 11-to-4. The equalizer came at the 81:45 mark in the form of a Sebastian Henke goal.
In overtime, Luis Vargas produced the Spartans only shot before Dominick Faletto got the game winner on a strike to the top shelf.
Knibbs led SJSU with four shots and the goal. Jonathan Colunga took two shots while Eric Mendez, Zach Penner, Victor Parra, Carlos Valdovinos and Vargas finished with a shot apiece. Petermann had three saves.
For the Huskies, Marcelo Acuna had a team-high five shots. Keeper Chance Pope made four saves.
The Spartans wrap up the regular season Saturday on Spartan Soccer Field. The program will honor seniors Emmanuel Espinoza, Victor Parra, Mikhail Wingate-Pearse, Alex Anastasi and Felix Petermann in ceremonies prior to the 2:00 p.m. kickoff.
Soccer Game Summary (Final)
2015 San Jose State Men's Soccer
San Jose State vs HBU (Nov 01, 2015 at Houston, Texas)
San Jose State (6-10-1, 4-4-1 WAC) vs. HBU (8-8-1, 4-4-1 WAC)
Date: Nov 01, 2015 Attendance: 100
Weather: Rain
Goals by period 1 2 OT Tot
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San Jose State...... 1 0 0 - 1
HBU................. 0 1 1 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
- 2:52 SJSU Knibbs, Rory Penalty kick
- 81:45 HBU Henke, Sebastian (Acuna, Marcelo) - Rebound
- 96:17 HBU Faletto, Dominick (Borgmann, Thilo) - Shot top shelf
Shots: San Jose State 11, HBU 20
Saves: San Jose State 3 (Petermann, Felix 3), HBU 4 (Pope, Chance 4)