San José, Calif. – A solid 86 minutes of tough and intense defense wasn't enough on Friday as the San José State men's soccer team dropped its season opener against visiting Sacramento State.
Ultimately it was a frantic four-minute stretch in the first half that would doom the Spartans (0-1) in the 2-0 defeat on opening night.
"Sacramento State came to play today," said head coach Simon Tobin after the match. "We beat them at their place last year so they came here and meant business. They are athletic and physical and they did very well to take us out of our game."
The hosts withstood some early physicality and continually peppered the Hornet (1-0) defense, eventually finishing the night with a 17-10 shot advantage. Juniors Rodolfo Castro and Max Allen led the way for SJSU as the dangerous duo finished the evening with four shots a piece.
A pair of Sacramento State goals in less than four minutes quickly opened the match up late in the first half. San José State would finish the night with 10 shots on frame but was unable to sneak any of them by the Hornet keeper.
Dominating in everything but the scoreline, Tobin hopes a little more attention to detail will equal better final results in the future.
"We just have to play our game," the sixth-year head coach said. "This is a good team, maybe the best one I've had here. We just need to change some tiny things and we will be very good."
The Spartans fought hard until the end, getting off a trio of shots in the match's wild final seven minutes. None of the strong attempts were able to find the back of the net, however, sealing the deal on a 2-0 victory for the visitors at historic Spartan Soccer Complex.
SJSU ended the night with an edge in corner kicks (7-2) while the Hornets made 10 saves to San José State's four.
The Spartans will return to action on Tuesday at Pacific to kickoff a two-game road trip. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. against the Tigers in Stockton.