By Jarra Gojolo — Staff Writer
The most painful thing about a hornet, is that it stings again.
San Jose State’s men’s soccer was defeated by Sacramento State 2-0 Friday night. It was the season-opener for the new-look Spartans, who come into the season with 10 new players on the roster.
Despite the loss, head coach Simon Tobin said this may be the best team he’s had as a Spartan.
“This year we have a very, very deep squad,” Tobin said.
With 63 percent possession, 17 shots, 10 of which were on target and seven corner kicks, the Spartans had clear control of the ball during the match.
But in the first half the Hornets found a way to strike twice in quick succession despite that control.
“The one weakness of our team is if we concede a goal our next 5 minutes after that…our reaction is not good,” Tobin said.
After the Hornets broke the deadlock in the 30 minute, they dealt the Spartans another blow by striking again at the 33 minute.
“Once the goal is scored our heads kind of drop down,” said defender Eddie Saydee. “We’re going to continue to talk to each other and say, ‘Hey boys, now that we understand this sort of pattern, let’s pick it up,’ I think that’s how we’ll get over it.”
The game was physical throughout, but multiple altercations in the second half turned up the intensity on the pitch. Coach Tobin commended the Hornets’ physicality after the game.
“They did very well to put us out of how we normally play…we can’t let that happen,” Tobin said. “We have to play our game…after the first goal we started straining, and we got into little physical altercations.”
Despite Sacramento State’s muscle, SJSU isn’t letting it’s team back down.
“All the guys here are a big family,” Saydee said. “Every time we break we say ‘family on three’…it’s not clique-ish, every single body is for each other.”
The Spartans kept the pressure on in the second half, threatening to score multiple times in the waning moments of the game.
Five Spartans had multiple attempts on goal throughout the game, with juniors Max Allen and Rudy Castro leading the way with four shots each.
The Spartans head to Stockton on Tuesday to take on University of the Pacific at 7:30 p.m.
Follow Jarra on Twitter @JarraGojolo