Ethan Ndachi (@EthanNdachi) – Content editor | Sophomore striker Arnold Matshazi at fulltime vs. GCU (Photo by Nathaniel Solomon – Freelance Photographer)
San Jose State men’s soccer (12-4-4, 4-3-2 WAC) came up short in the Western Athletic Conference championship final against Grand Canyon University (13-3-4, 6-2-3 WAC) on a fittingly gloomy afternoon at CBU Soccer Field.
With the pitch flooded, and the rain pouring down overhead, SJSU found it difficult to break down GCU’s defense throughout the match. Any glimpse of Spartan positivity was met with mismanaged touches and slippery surfaces.
After 65 minutes of deadlock in the match, redshirt junior Dane Pendleton committed a foul on Antelope graduate student forward Ben Assane outside the edge of the 18-yard box which provided an opportunity for GCU to earn the opener.
Junior defender Felipe Cobian took the opportunity, and scored the freekick at the top right of goal, slipping past redshirt senior goalkeeper Edgar Guerra.
“It’s going to be a tight game from the beginning so it’s really about which team could really execute first or maybe avoid making a mistake,” associate head coach Jesus Sanchez said. “They had a great set piece moment.”
Just 24 seconds later, the Spartans gave up the ball which allowed sophomore forward Alan Hermitte to take the ball and run before finding WAC top goalscorer freshman striker Junior Diouf on the counter.
Diouf made no mistake and scored his 17th goal of the season, changing the mood in Riverside instantaneously.
SJSU had six shots with three on goal vs. GCU’s 13 and five on target, the Antelopes defense remained ever strong.
“They defend collectively as a whole very well, and we knew they were going to try and frustrate us and deny central channels,” Sanchez said.
In the 84th minute, Pendleton was able to pull a goal back for the Spartans after a tidy passing sequence from midfielders junior Gilberto Rivera and senior Angel Iniguez.
Rivera’s assist brings him up to joint-first for assists with eight at the end of the season, and Iniguez goes up to number two with seven.
Iniguez’s assist also pushes him to 25 in his career, ending his time at SJSU tied for fifth on the all-time SJSU assists leaderboard.
“I don’t think we did too much wrong, I think we played against a good team today and the game could have gone either way,” Sanchez said. “We just found our moment too late.”
The last time the Antelopes won the WAC was in 2018, when they defeated the Spartans 1-0.
Pendleton, Iniguez, Rivera and sophomore striker Arnold Matshazi were named to the WAC All-Tournament team for their efforts.
This is an especially heartbreaking result for head coach Simon Tobin, who has taken SJSU to six WAC championship finals, but still was unable to bring one back to San Jose.
Tobin’s record for his 12 seasons at SJSU now finishes at 87-101-37, and he will say his goodbyes to the team following this latest result.
The Spartans are unlikely to get the decision to join the Antelopes in the NCAA tournament, sending them back to the drawing board to prepare for the 2026 season in the Mountain West conference, as this year marks the end of WAC as a conference.
“I think it’s been a wonderful season,” Sanchez said. “I think the boys played outstanding on the pitch, they have represented San Jose State very well.”
