By Jose Trujillo
Four games in, and you can finally chalk one up in the win column for the San Jose State men’s soccer team.
A big game from sophomore defender Omar Lemus helped propel the Spartans (1-2-1) over Sacramento State (1-2-1) Sunday afternoon in the state’s capital.
The San Jose native scored two first-half goals which proved to be enough for the Spartans.
At the 35th minute, senior defender Andrew Mendoza delivered a timely cross from wide left to Lemus, who drove it past the goalkeeper for the first goal.
Less than four minutes later, Lemus struck again, and this time it required less of his teammates passing and more his individual skill.
The sophomore received a long pass just inside the penalty box, then beat his initial defender while dribbling past a second sliding defender, giving the goalkeeper no chance. Lemus drilled it low, netting his second goal of the season.
The Spartans completely dominated the first half. Not only did they control majority of possession, but outshot the Hornets 7-2, and put up four shots-on-goal compared to none for Sac State. For the game, the Spartans finished with 10 shots, five on goal.
Defensively, the Spartans were night and day from the pervious second-half effort put up against UC Davis. They came out aggressive and gave the Hornets very little space to operate. Whenever the Hornets secured the ball, multiple Spartans immediately hounded them leading to several clean tackles.
It wasn’t until a second-half foul that led to a penalty kick that resulted in the Hornets only score.
The goal also wiped-out sophomore goalkeeper Rodrigo Reyes-Zavala’s first clean-sheet as a Spartan.
However, Zavala did pick up his first win as a Division I goalkeeper finishing the game with two saves.
The win over Sacramento State is important for the Spartans because there are only three games left before WAC play begin and it is important for any team to have some momentum heading into conference matchups.
Next up for SJSU is another in-state matchup, as the team travels to Saint Mary’s.
The first whistle blows Thursday at 4 p.m. in Moraga, Calif.
Follow Jose on Twitter @jAy_Ay_T
