Aug. 21, 2016
MORAGA, Calif. - The San José State men's soccer team dropped its exhibition game, 4-1, against Saint Mary's as the Gaels scored three goals in a five minute stretch in the first half.
"It was a rough first half," said Spartans head coach Simon Tobin. "We've got a few knocks and injuries as we started five that will start for us and six that are a little far away from starting. The first half told you why that's the case."
16 players in all appeared in the match for the Spartans with half of them stepping onto the pitch for their first competition in a San José State uniform.
"It's a wake up call to some of the players that haven't been exposed to this level on how quick, strong and powerful it is in Division I soccer, as it's a physical game," said Tobin.
The Spartans were under constant pressure by the Gaels from the get go, getting knocked off the ball and letting the opposition slip behind the defense on several occasions, giving up three corner kicks in the first eight minutes.
The Gaels' pressure got to the Spartans in a big way when Saint Mary's Jakub Svehlik broke through in the 35th minute, in what would be the first of three goals that they would score in a five minute span.
Svehlik one-timed his shot off of a cross from Anders Engebretsen that slipped underneath Spartan goalkeeper Nedin Tucakovic.
Three minutes later, Svehlik scored his second goal when Tucakovic tried to make a save over a Saint Mary's player's head but lost the ball during the collision that Svehlik volleyed in.
The Gaels' third goal came a minute later when Anders Engebretsen got behind the defense where he used his left foot inside the 18 yard box to curl it in past the overstretched arms of Tucakovic.
Saint Mary's outshot the San José State 11-to-1 in the first half.
In the second half, the Spartans got a much needed boost when they made substitutions for the first time in the match.
"There were a couple of positives in the second half. Ronaldo Lomeli came in and made a big difference for us as I thought he sparked it up. Joey Bastian moved to the back and had a good game," said Tobin.
The Spartans got on the board in the 78th minute when Alex Alcaraz fed the ball to Carlos Valdovinos in the box and blasted a right footer under the Gaels' keeper.
Shortly after Valdovinos' goal, the Spartans had an opportunity to cut the lead to one goal when a shot by Bastian hit the cross bar and bounced wide right where play continued.
The Gaels scored their final goal in the 89th minute.
"In the first half, they were far superior to us. It shows that our depth players still have a lot of work to do. I'm quite comfortable, if we're healthy, with our starting team though. We'll be ok," said Tobin.
The Spartans open the regular season on Friday, August 26 in Davis, Calif., against the UC Davis Aggies. Kickoff for the match is set for 5:00 p.m. PT.
Soccer Short Box Score | |||||||||||
Saint Mary's College Men's Soccer | |||||||||||
San Jose State vs Saint Mary's (CA) (8/21/2016 1:00 p.m. at Moraga, CA) | |||||||||||
San Jose State (0-0) vs Saint Mary's (CA) (0-0) | |||||||||||
Attendance: 0 | |||||||||||
Stadium: Saint Mary's Stadium Moraga, CA | |||||||||||
Weather: Sunny, cool. 72 degrees | |||||||||||
Goals by Period | 1 | 2 | Total | ||||||||
San Jose State | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
Saint Mary's (CA) | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
Scoring Summary: | |||||||||||
No. | Time | Team | Goal Scorer | Assist | Description | ||||||
1. | 34:37 | SMC | SVEHLIK, Jakub | ENGEBRETSEN, Anders | One-time shot in front of goal off cross assist from end line | ||||||
2. | 37:30 | SMC | SVEHLIK, Jakub | DOUGHERTY, Stephen | Volley over GK off rebound of free kick | ||||||
3. | 38:49 | SMC | ENGEBRETSEN, Anders | BRAMAN, Ben | 14 yard left footed curler into left corner. | ||||||
4. | 77:38 | SJSU | 1v1 w/keeper slotted low under the GK | ||||||||
5. | 89:04 | SMC | RESTANI, Joseph | KARMAN, Frederick | One-time shot into middle of goal off low short cross | ||||||
Shots: San Jose State 5, Saint Mary's (CA) 17 | |||||||||||
Saves: San Jose State 5 (Tucakovic, Nedin 4) (DONALDSON, Kristopher 1) , Saint Mary's (CA) 2 (KONSTANTINO, Andrew 2) | |||||||||||
Exhibition Contest | |||||||||||
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