By Marissa Scott
San Jose State men’s soccer dropped its second match of the season to Cal State Northridge in a scrappy 1-0 loss Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans (0-1-1) combined for eight shots in the first half and two in the second, but were unable to net a ball against the Matadors (1-1), who finished the game with eight shots.
“We started really well but in the second half, we were a little bit gassed,” said head coach Simon Tobin. “I don’t think they were the better team by any means. We just didn’t play well enough to win the game.”
In the first half, senior forward Zach Penner was credited with the only two shots on goal. The Spartans outshot the Matadors 8-2, but the roles were switched in the last 45 minutes of the game.
CSUN had six shots on goal in the second half, and in the 71st minute, freshman forward Khalid Hunter headed in the lone goal of the match that gave the team a 1-0 lead.
Throughout the game, the referees handed out 10 yellow cards: four to the Spartans and six to the Matadors. A total of 31 penalties were also called, 16 of which belonged to SJSU.
A few scuffles between the players broke out in the second half of the game when tensions were high.
“I thought it was a pretty feisty game. Northridge is a big, physical team while we are quite a small team,” Tobin said. “Whenever we play them, it’s just feisty. I think that’s just soccer.”
Coming off of a career-high 11 saves in the tie game at Stanford, senior goalkeeper Alex Clewis saved three goals in the match.
The Spartans are in search for their first win of the season as they head up north to face UC Davis on Friday.
Spartan players were not made available to comment on the loss.
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