Men’s soccer loses in overtime

USD falls to Cal State Fullerton 1-0 in hard-fought loss

Alyssa Sanchez/Contributor/The USD Vista

The University of San Diego men’s soccer team lost to Cal State Fullerton 0-1 in overtime on Sept. 13 after an extremely competitive game.

The Toreros took the field with lots of energy as they began their game against the Titans. With quick footwork and precise handling of the ball, the USD players dominated the field. Their aggressive offense and strong defense led to many narrowly- missed goals that kept up their morale during the lengthy game.

Although USD had control of the ball at many times, the Titans had a number of close shots themselves. Cal State Fullerton had to keep up with the pace that the Toreros had set from the beginning. The crowd held its breath each time the ball neared the goal or bounced off of a goal post. Luckily for the Toreros, USD’s goalkeeper Matt Wiher brought his A-game and stopped the ball multiple times.

“I always love making saves because usually my team warms up behind the goal and whenever I do something I always hear a ‘good job’ so it’s rewarding,” Wiher said.

Wiher, who had a total of four impressive saves in the game, explained that a lot of work goes into each game.

“The home games are always the most important,” Wiher said. “The fans come out, the students, we appreciate them and just try to work hard for them. We put a lot of preparation in and practice every day.”

As the game progressed, USD fans watched in anticipation as forward players Allen Luhrs and Cameron Kaemerle worked together to take the ball to the Titans’ box. It was ultimately lost due to a tangling of their feet with the opposing players’. Not long after that close encounter with the Titans, the game reached halftime and remained scoreless.

USD went into the second half playing even stronger than the first  after having some changes made to the lineup by head coach Brian Quinn.

“We reshuffled our lineup at halftime and really set ourselves more into the game,” Quinn said. “We looked like a lot more dangerous of a team in that second half.”

There were a couple of injuries that occured after halftime that led to some players being subbed out of the game. The intensity of the men’s competitiveness grew, and with that came more contact between the players. Charly Anguiano, a Cal State Fullerton forward, collided with Wiher and brought him down, which prompted USD athletic trainers to take a look at him. Wiher then shook off his injury and got back into position, as he was not yet finished with the game.

There was a continuous back and forth between the teams as they tried desperately to score. USD was determined to keep its side of the field free of Titans. Though they found their way in, the players from Fullerton were quickly turned around as USD defense stole back the ball. Players raced toward each other, nearly banging heads as they jumped as high as they could to head the ball to their own teammates.

The enthusiasm from the crowd grew as students cheered for their friends on the field. There was a loud “Oh!” from the crowd whenever a shot was taken.

The clock neared the 90-minute mark, but the game was still 0-0. Many shots were taken by both teams as they tried to score before regulation time ended. Before either team could score, the time had run out and sent the game into overtime.

“We wanted to attack this goal because we always seem to have more success,” Quinn said about the team’s plan for overtime. “We wanted to try and test the Fullerton defense and get in behind them, get some crosses in.”

Both teams had a lot of determination going into overtime. As the first overtime period neared its end, Fullerton player Robert Coronado was given a free kick from 30 yards. With USD players lined up and their goalkeeper in place, the men tried to block the ball from entering their goal. The ball bounced off of a player’s head and passed right over Wiher and into the goal, ending the game 0-1.

“It was a good shot but it took a deflection,” Quinn said. “It’s tough to lose 0-1 in any college game. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way.”

Although the game did not end in favor of the Toreros, their coach was still proud of how they played.

“I think our goalkeeper was stellar. He had really good saves that kept us in the game. In the second half, our midfield was good,” Quinn said.

Wiher suggested that he and his teammates take more shots during their practices to prevent another game like this.

“We had a lot of chances in the box and I think we dominated in their half, just that final touch is what we needed,” Wiher said. “We’ll work on some finishing practice and rest up too because these games take a lot out of you. I think we have a couple of injuries so we should rest and focus.”

Home games are always important to USD, and coach Quinn is determined to have his players win them.

“We’ve got more opportunities at home, we enjoy playing here, but we’ve got to get the win,” Quinn said.

Following the overtime defeat, the  Toreros would take on the UNLV Rebels last Sunday evening in another home game at Torero Stadium.