By Ethan Ndachi (@EthanNdachi) – Content editor | Senior Angel Iniguez and junior Gilberto Rivera vs. USF on Sept. 4 (Photo by Max Garcia – The Spear)
On Saturday, San Jose State men’s soccer (7-1-2) defeated UC San Diego (0-6-2) 3-0, their last stop on the road before conference fixtures begin.
SJSU is now 2-1-1 all-time against UC San Diego, with their last victory being the 2-1 result away on Aug. 26 2023.
The Spartans were at their suffocating best on the night, squeezing the Tritons in their own half with head coach Simon Tobin’s signature style. It wasn’t long before SJSU found their lead with a beautiful shot outside the box from junior midfielder Gilberto Rivera.
This marks the defensive midfielder’s first goal of the season, and second career goal with the Spartans. Rivera was everywhere at the Triton Soccer Stadium, constantly carrying the ball up the pitch through UCSD’s midfield, and continuing to test the opposing keeper with more long shots.
WAC Offensive Player of the Year and senior midfielder Angel Iniguez would follow suit with a strike from outside of the box in the 65th minute, assisted by redshirt junior defender Dane Pendleton.
The Spartans would wrap the game up in the 80th minute when substitute sophomore midfielder Neo Ruiz completed SJSU’s outside-the-box-goal trifecta with a stunning shot into the right corner. The goal was assisted from fellow match substitute, senior forward Anthony Guzman.
This was Ruiz’s first career goal for SJSU, and his second goal contribution for the season, having assisted junior midfielder Angel Fernandez in the season opener vs Cal Poly.
The two substitutes combining for the goal will be sure to please associate head coach Jesus Sanchez, who emphasized a need for the entire squad to contribute to this matchup, highlighting the four games in a 10 day span that would physically take its toll on the team.
The Spartans needed to manage fitness, and utilize the wealth of depth that they had in their squad.
“It showed a lot of things for our group,” Sanchez said. “It showed a lot of resilience, it showed a lot of grit, and showed a lot of passion…game after game they showed up.”
SJSU had a whopping 21 shots this game, with seven shots on goal compared to the Tritons one. UCSD were content with sitting back and allowing SJSU to pile on the pressure, setting up in a back five to attempt to bolster its defense.
Next the Spartans start their WAC conference campaign against California Baptist this Saturday at 7 p.m., returning to the Spartan Soccer Complex.
