By Gerardo Gonzalez (@GerardoG209) Spear Reporter
San Jose State men’s soccer (2-1-3, 0-0-0 WAC) were able to secure a 3-2 victory on the road against UC Davis (0-5-1, BWC 0-0-0) in what was a thriller on Thursday evening.
The Spartans were off to a good start as they were able to get ahead 1-0 with a goal in the first six minutes. Freshman forward Riccardo Scarafia found a long ball and put it away in the bottom corner for his first in the season.
Things got rolling for SJSU as junior defender Joel Garcia would score the second of the game as he shot a cannon outside the box to score his third of the season continuing his good form.
However, there was one more in the tank as sophomore midfielder Beau Leroux would find a header off of a corner kick by freshman midfielder Angel Iniguez to make it 3-0 right before the half. This would also be a special night for Beau Leroux as he would score his first goal of the season.
SJSU were off to a dream start and playing its best team performance all season long in the first forty-five minutes. Senior goalkeeper David Sweeney would end the half with 0 saves. UC Davis would have to regroup in the second half if it wanted to have a chance as it would only have two shots on goal.
The Aggies would answer back and make it 3-1 later in the second half. Senior defender Max Glasser would find the net after a series of rebounds. In the final 10 minutes of the game, UC Davis would look to make a comeback as freshman midfielder Zack Lillington would make it 3-2. The home team had seemed to wake up and put the pressure on.
SJSU defended the score in the final minutes of the game and were able to survive a close game as it would come out with the three points. This would be its second win of the season since opening day.
“We had to dig deep and fight a little bit today… For us, it was one of our biggest wins of the season and we hope to build up off of this,” said SJSU head coach Simon Tobin after the game on Twitter.
The Spartans were effective in the final thirds, something head coach Simon Tobin had emphasized in the previous game due to their lack of chances at goal against Saint Mary’s. It seemed as if the game plan discussed during the week worked out for them against UC Davis.
San Jose State men’s soccer will travel back home as it will host University of the Pacific on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.