Sophomore Forrayah Bass was making his first appearance of the season because of injury and lack of fitness. He wasn’t supposed to stay in the game very long. Head coach Lev Kirshner was about to pull Bass around 20 minutes into the second half, but Kirshner’s assistant coaches told him to keep him in the game.

That strategy paid off as Bass scored in the 74th minute on Sunday at the SDSU Sports Deck to give the San Diego State men’s soccer team a 1-0 victory against the visiting University of Buffalo Bulls.

“To the credit of my assistant coaches they prompted me to keep him on the park and he got the goal,”Kirshner said.

It was SDSU’s first win of the year and the score line thoroughly reflected the performance as the Aztecs controlled the ball wonderfully and also defended well.

SDSU came close to opening the scoring in the 20th minute. Sophomore midfielder Casey Macias found freshman midfielder Jeff Rhodes wide open down the right side. Rhodes cut in and hit a low, stinging shot that fizzed just wide of the post.

The teams went into the break scoreless.

Immediately after the second half started, Bass almost put the Aztecs in front when he found himself and the Bulls’goalkeeper Waleed Cassis in a footrace for a ball, which Cassis barely scooped up.

Junior defender Casey Phillips was the main aggressor for SDSU, running down the left-hand side causing problems for the Buffalo defense.

Bass almost broke the deadlock again when he picked up the ball from 30 yards, brought it forward and hit a low drive that barely went wide.

The transfer from Louisburg College in North Carolina was playing his first action of the season.

“He’s a kid we’re expecting to start at some point,” Kirshner said. “He came in unfit and took an injury at the end of training camp, so we’ve got to try and work him back into the game.”

The third time wasn’t the charm either for the sophomore from England, as Phillips crossed to freshman forward David Olsen, who headed to Bass, but his header was saved.

Bass finally scored his goal in the 74th minute. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Adam Allmaras booted the ball deep and freshman midfielder Brady Blackwell flicked the ball into the path of Bass, who let it bounce a couple times before volleying into the left side.

The sophomore Englishmen’s fitness was the most paramount thing on Kirshner’s mind afterward.

“As soon as he got the goal and we were up 1-0 he was off,”Kirshner said.

Unlike the friendly match against University of San Diego, SDSU saw its 1-0 lead out for the win, thanks in part to the improvement the Aztecs have seen since then.

“I think a lot has to do with teams wearing down against us; our ball circulation was a lot better today so that may have tired them out,”Kirshner said.

Next up for the Aztecs is a home match against Clemson University—a rematch of the 1987 NCAA National Championship game. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m. on Sept. 5 at the SDSU Sports Deck.