Oct. 23, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford suffered a tough overtime loss at the hands of San Diego State, Friday night from Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Stanford fought back to score the equalizer late in the second half, before the Aztecs finished a golden goal in overtime for a 2-1 victory.
The loss was the first at home for Stanford this season. Stanford now sits at 8-4-1 (2-3-1 Pac-10) with four crucial Pac-10 games remaining. The Aztecs improved to 5-4-4 (2-2-2 Pac-10) as they played their sixth consecutive overtime game.
San Diego State got on the board early with a goal in the 14th minute. Daniel Ortega fired a cross off a corner kick that found the head of Nick Cardenas. Cardenas drilled a powerful header into the top right corner of the net.
Moments later the Aztecs looked to go ahead 2-0 when an Ortega free kick seemed headed to the upper corner. However, John Moore made a brilliant diving save to keep the deficit at one.
The Cardinal began to turn it on later in the half as they looked for the equalizer. Both teams had three shots in the first half.
Just over a minute into the second half, Cameron Lamming found space in the box and fired a left footed shot on goal, but Brad Byrns made the save.
Both teams continued to put pressure on the opposing defenses with San Diego State outshooting the Cardinal 9-5 in the half.
Finally, in the 70th minute a pair of freshmen combined on the only goal for the Cardinal. Adam Jahn played his usual role of target forward and held off a defender to control a pass from the defense. He then slipped a through ball to Dersu Abolfathi charging down the wing. Abolfathi carried his dribble before beating the keeper for the first goal of career.
Both teams had chances in the final 20 minutes, but the game remained tied and went to extra time.
Just 2:13 into the first overtime San Diego State scored the game-winner. Remarkably, the Aztecs have seen all six of their Pac-10 games and nine overall go to overtime this season. Khadim Diouf scored the golden goal on the second assist of the game from Ortega.
Moore finished with four saves, while five different Stanford players had shots on goal.
The Cardinal will look to get back to their winning ways at home on Sunday afternoon versus UCLA. The second ranked and Pac-10 leading Bruins will come to Cagan Stadium for a 1:00 pm kick versus the Cardinal.