By Marissa Scott – Content Editor
With 10 minutes left in the semifinals game, Omar Lemus blasted a ball into the left corner of the net to send San Jose State to the Western Athletic Conference finals.
The No. 6 Spartans were outshot 11-7 but they didn’t let that stop them from taking the 1-0 win over the No. 2 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Lemus played hero the game before after making the game-winning penalty kick against No. 3 Seattle University. The sophomore defender leads the team with six goals and four assists.
“We really played well in the second half and were the dominating team,” head coach Simon Tobin told SJSU Athletics. “At halftime, I told them to be patient and UTRGV lured us into some traps and were winning the ball. They may be the best counter attacking team in the conference.”
The Spartans have a history of victory runs during the conference tournament. Last season, the team went into the tournament as the No. 4 seed and ended up losing 2-1 in the championship against SU.
With two other appearances in the WAC finals, the Spartans are 0-2.
SJSU will go on to face No. 4 Grand Canyon University in the championship game on Sunday.
The two teams faced each other once during the regular season and the Spartans came out on top 1-0 at home. Senior Zach Penner scored the lone goal of the game against the Antelopes.
Coming into the game, GCU has five-straight wins and the freshman goalkeeper George Tasouris has two nine-save games in a row. The Antelopes shut out No. 1 Air Force to send themselves to the championship.
The Spartans will welcome back seniors goalkeeper Alex Clewis and forward Zach Penner after being suspended one game for distasteful hand gestures and language.
SJSU looks for its first WAC final win on Sunday. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.
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