 "Photo: Megan Winn, Staff Photographer")
The San Diego State men's soccer team seemed sluggish and tired.
The Aztecs didn't look good in the beginning of the game. They didn't even look awake.
Despite sleepwalking through most of the first half, SDSU kept No. 16 UCLA at a 0-0 deadlock.
But the last 12 minutes of the first half was a wake-up call.
The Aztecs gave up a wide-open goal and then were struck with a red and a yellow card.
In the first half at the SDSU Sports Deck, the Aztecs (7-4-1, 3-2 in Pac-10 play), shot only three times to the Bruins' six, barely pushing the ball, and fell 2-1 to UCLA.
"It's always difficult to play with 10 men, but I think even before the (red card) we just came out a little too flat, and we didn't have the sense of urgency in the first half," senior forward Andrew DiCicco said. "I think that when we got the red card, we woke up a little bit; everybody realized we had to raise our level. But it shouldn't take something like that happening for us to wake up."
Added head coach Lev Kirshner: "It's important to play for 90 minutes in the Pac-10, and if you don't play for 90 minutes, you might find yourself down 1-0 and having to fight back."
Six minutes into the second half, a ball bounced off a sliding SDSU defender and got past senior goalie Tally Hall.
After the goal, Aztecs showed some life.
Freshman midfielder Evan Toft and DiCicco passed the ball to each other multiple times, slicing through the Bruins' defense before DiCicco sent it into the lower-left corner of the net.
But SDSU couldn't overcome the 2-0 deficit.
The Bruins (8-3-2, 3-1-1 Pac-10) handed SDSU its first home loss of the season, only the second time in 20 home contests that the Aztecs have fallen at the Sports Deck.
"You take pride in your home," DiCicco said. "Some of the breaks didn't go our own way, but I still think we can create our own breaks if we come out with the right mentality."
Almost every team will inevitably hit a bump in the road in a lengthy season.
It's the teams that pull through the rough patches are the ones that survive.
"Very few teams can go wire-to-wire winning every game they play, so we've got to learn from this loss and hopefully use those lessons in our next game against UCLA," DiCicco said. "I don't think playing at UCLA or playing here is as important as the mentality you have going into the game. And (the mentality) is what hurt us here."
SDSU will now leave home and play UC Irvine, Washington and Oregon State before its next home stand.
News and notes:
•Both of SDSU's red cards this season have come from referee Ramon Hernandez.
•Attendance: 1,272
Be the first to comment on this article!