Oct. 29, 2006
STANFORD, Calif.- A header by Nick Cardenas off a corner kick in the 87th minute represented the only scoring in San Diego State's 1-0 shutout of Stanford on Sunday afternoon in San Diego.
The Cardinal, which began its Southern California road trip with a 1-1 tie against No. 10 UCLA on Friday evening, is now 6-7-4 overall and 4-3-2 in Pac-10 play. San Diego State improves to 9-5-3 and 5-2-2 in league action.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Stanford and UCLA have earned 14 points and are currently tied for third place in the Pac-10 standings. San Diego State moves into second place with 17 points while California maintains its lead with 21 points.
Stanford was looking for a sweep of the season series, having defeated San Diego State 2-1 at Maloney Field back on Sept. 22 in the Pac-10 opener. Instead, the Cardinal suffered another heartbreaking loss to fall under the .500 mark for the first time since Sept. 24.
The Aztecs outshot the Cardinal 9-4 for the match, including a 5-3 edge over the final 45 minutes. After misfiring on a couple chances earlier in the half, San Diego State finally broke through with just under three minutes remaining.
Evan Toft's corner kick found Cardenas, whose header was on the mark for a 1-0 lead. Cardenas has scored five goals on the year- all on headers.
Seniors Galen Thompson and Bret Shimizu, junior Dan Shapiro and sophomore Tunji Munabi all recorded a shot for the Cardinal. Attempts by Thompson and Shapiro were both on frame.
In the 18th minute, Thompson one-touched a cross in front of the left side but San Diego State keeper Tally Hall was there for the save. In the 57th minute, Shimizu fired a shot from the right side that sailed just wide left.
San Diego State held a 6-0 edge in corner kicks and four Aztec players tallied at least two shot attempts.
Cardinal goalkeeper John Moore made three saves.
Stanford's final regular season match is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 3. The Cardinal host Pac-10 leader California on Senior Night at 7 p.m.