By Gabriel Luis (@gabelun):
San Jose State men’s soccer team (5-10-1, 3-4-1 WAC) fell to Air Force (12-1-3, 6-0-2 WAC) 4-0 on Friday after three shutout victories in Texas last week.
With the Western Athletic Conference Tournament around the corner, the Spartans needed to maintain their form in order to place high enough to qualify.
The Falcons were undefeated in conference matches this season and with the Spartans returning home after traveling, San Jose State had everything to play for.
“For the first ten minutes, it was a tight game,” said SJSU head coach Simon Tobin.
San Jose State seemed to be up to the task as it finished the half with two more shots and two fewer saves than their counterparts.
The Spartans also lost their primary goal scorer in the first half as senior forward Jeremy Romero was substituted for junior forward Zach Penner in the 16th minute after an apparent injury.
Even though the Spartans and the Falcons had their fair share of scoring opportunities, both teams failed to convert any of the nine shots in the first half.
Tobin began the second half with a different formation than the first by including two strikers in order to create more scoring opportunities, but the opposite occurred.
“We got a bit greedy in the second half,” Tobin said. “We wanted to go for it, and they punished us for it,” Tobin said.
The Falcons were took take the lead in the 52nd minute with a goal coming from junior defender Klint Parker.
After conceding the first goal the Spartans lost composure and were scored on two more times within the next 10 minutes.
By the 61st minute, Air Force was ahead 3-0 following two goals from junior forward Austin Dewing.
The remaining minutes of the match left SJSU frustrated as sophomore defender Jeff Dukes and freshman forward Eduardo Miranda received yellow cards.
Filled with frustration and anger, one last defensive mistake in the 87th minute resulted in Air Force scoring once again, raising the goal difference to four.
Sophomore goalkeeper David Heredia explained that the team stopped trying as hard in the second half, which ultimately led to the team’s breakdown.
“Everybody makes mistakes, we can’t be pointing fingers at one another,” Heredia said.
After the final whistle, Tobin ultimately claimed the responsibility for the way the team played in the second half, explaining that the halftime formation change wasn’t necessary.
Currently ninth in the conference standings, the Spartans will need things to go their way along with handling business on the field themselves.
Both games will be home games next week but after being winless at home for the season, the team will need to step it up.
San Jose State’s next game is against seventh place University of Missouri, Kansas City at home on Sunday, Oct. 29th.
Kick-off is set for 1:00 pm.