By Gabriel Luis (@gabelun):
San Jose State men’s soccer team (5-10-1, 4-4-1 WAC) played a seven-goal thriller on Sunday afternoon as the Spartans won 4-3 against Kansas City (5-9-3, 3-6 WAC).
Both teams needed the victory entering the match, in order to help their chances of qualifying for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in November.
“I’m pleased,” said head coach Simon Tobin. “We had enough quality.”
Kansas City started the match on the right foot as Eric McWoods scored in the sixth minute of the match.
The lead would not last long as SJSU was able to score just two minutes after. San Jose State’s first goal came inside the box from senior forward Jeremy Romero.
San Jose State appeared to be more dominant after equalizing in the first half by maintaining a passing style of play, whereas UMKC was playing route-one soccer.
The Spartans were able to pull off eight shots in the first half compared to the Roos, who finished the half with only four.
Once the second half of the game began, multiple aggressive tackles and high foul counts led to multiple injuries within the first 10 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, UMKC scored again in the 54th minute off of a goal from Alvaro Hernando from outside the box.
After conceding another goal, SJSU seemed to step up their game in the following minutes. The Spartans were able to equalize by the 60th minute, which led to Romero’s second goal of the game.
Romero’s brace maintains his title as the top goal scorer for San Jose State with 11 goals this season.
“If it wasn’t for them giving me the ball and trusting me, I wouldn’t be where I am,” Romero said.
Shortly after Romero’s second goal, Eduardo Buenfil notched his second goal of the season in the 67th minute.
The Roos came back and converted another goal in the 68th minute from Diego Serfaty to equalize the game at three goals apiece.
The gridlock was finally broken shortly after when junior defender Andy Rios converted a penalty in the 69th minute.
When asked about scoring the game-winning goal, Rios explained that scoring “feels good,” but also claimed that the whole team contributed to it.
The final minutes of the game were very intense, Sophomore goalkeeper David Heredia had a few clutch saves at the end, which prevented UMKC from equalizing again.
San Jose States last match of the regular season is set on Friday against CSU Bakersfield. Kick off is set for 1 p.m.